Ronin Kaoru; Tokyo Arc
by Dragonsdaughter
Summary: When Kaoru is killed by Enishi she is given a chance to go back and change Kenshin's life; Save Tomoe, travel for 10 years in his place. She changes the face of history but somethings are meant to be. K/K, S/M, M/A, Y/T
1. Prologue The Human Condition

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Ronin Kaoru

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Prologue: The Human Condition

***

Most people think that shadows follow, precede or surround

beings or objects. The truth is that they also surround words,  
ideas, desires, deeds, impulses and memories."  
-'Humankind', Wiesel

  
***

  
*note!* I went through and fixed all the nasty little typos I could find! I even listened to some of your suggestions on things that would make the story flow better. No major plot changes, sadly. I'm too busy trying to regularly update two fics at once!  
  
Also, there will be canon couples in this fic! That means K+K, S+M, Y+T, M+A of course... it'll be a trick to get S+M together, you'll see why.

  
***  
  
Kaoru kicked lightly at the pebbles lining the outside walk of the Dojo. It was an entirely subconscious action, but she had to stop and wonder how she'd managed it.  
  
How simple to just reach out with her toes and send the rocks rolling.... still how?  
  
"How?" she echoed her thoughts verbally.  
  
She looked inside the Dojo; there was no answer but the steady drip, drip of thick liquid hitting the polished floor. Kaoru watched in morbid fascination and the dripping continued.  
  
Red blood pooled on the floor beneath the body cruelly pinned to the wall by Enishi's sword. The pool swelled and crawled across the floor at an agonizingly slow   
pace.  
  
She really didn't envy whoever had to clean that up.  
"How," she repeated. "Can I be here, when I'm dead? Am I a ghost?"  
  
"It's complicated, Mihita."  
  
Kaoru didn't look, but she already knew... somehow... about the black garbed woman lounging beside her.  
  
"You died over there, but you're still alive." The woman rolled a set of Chinese mood balls in her hand... they chimed softly and sound was comforting. "Touch your cheek, you're still bleeding from the cut he gave you."  
  
And so she was, the fact wasn't surprising her though.   
  
"How?"  
  
The woman laughed, "Chica... girl, don't ask me, I'm just the messenger." She paused and for a moment all that was heard was the soft chimes of the mood balls.   
"If you had the chance, would you save Tomoe?"  
  
"Yes." Kaoru looked at the stones she stirred with her toes. "For the past two nights... ever since Kenshin old us, I've fantasized about a thousand different ways it all could happen. He'd have been happy with her... happier than a macho, tanuki-no-onna could make him." She said bitterly.  
  
"Maybe," the woman allowed. "Maybe. So if you could go and stop Tomoe from dying... would you ? Would you save the one woman who comes between you and the one you want?"  
  
Kaoru sighed. "Kenshin loves her... I love Kenshin. When you love someone, you want what is best for them, no matter what it costs you." Oh yes, she was well acquainted with that old adage, she'd been ruthlessly reaching it at herself ever since she'd found out that Kenshin had been married... and she did love Kenshin, beyond that shadow of a doubt.  
  
"Si, si, she is a barrier to you both dead and alive, I suppose. Better her alive and him happy than her dead and him sad. Is that it Chica?" the woman prodded gently.  
  
"Yes... selfish, but yes."  
  
The woman burst out laughing. "Chica... chica. It is to laugh, you are willing to save the one person between you and his heart, to cross time it's self and you, estupida, say it is selfish. Yes, he'll be sad , but who is to say if you did not wait he would learn to love again?"  
  
Kaoru sighed. "Whatever you say it doesn't matter. There's no chance now. In case you haven't noticed that's MY body pinned to the wall over there!" she cried gesticulating wildly at the obvious. "That's MY blood running towards your shoes."  
  
The woman raised and eye brow at the tiny rivulet of blood as it pooled around the tip of her boot.  
  
"I'm dead." Kaoru cried. "Dead! You're here to take me to where ever it is dead people go!"  
  
"No, Chica. I deal with dead people, true, but as they say in a faraway place. 'I don't do widows'. I'm here to offer you a deal, Mihita. Your life for hers, you get your chance. You save her and then you take his place in the world. YOU help the people he helped. You walk the path of the Ronin in his place."  
  
Kaoru stared, her jaw slightly ajar. "Wha.."  
  
The woman nodded. "You see, there are certain laws that the universe follows. One of them is the Law of Resonance. It is sometimes known as Destiny, or Fate. Certain things must happen but there can be different results of those events. Someone out there believes you deserve your chance. Here it is... take it or leave it."  
  
Kaoru swallowed and watched as ghostly figures raced into the room. Kenshin was on his knees... she could watch as his spirit crumbled. Could it be that... he...  
  
"I love him." She whispered. She loved him far too much to let him go through losing someone close to him again, even if she was the one he lost.

The woman opened her hand and looked at the mood balls clustered in her palm. They were painted to resemble two perfect little skulls. "I'll take that as a 'Yes', Mi amiga."  
  
***  
  
Kaoru watched passively as Tomoe gently tended the tiny vegetable garden clustered among the cherry and plum trees that fed her and Kenshin. She smiled and hummed softly to herself.  
  
It was amazing, Kaoru thought, how quickly she had come to like the woman who had Kenshin's heart in her palms. She smiled as Tomoe looked up and waved her over with a timid smile of her own.  
  
"Hello, neighbor! Welcome back." She called.   
  
Kaoru waved heartily. "Hello yourself."  
  
Tomoe gracefully rose from the muddy soil and quickly stepped forward to embrace Kaoru. "It's been too long, where have you been keeping yourself?"  
  
Kaoru smiled. "Feed me and I'll tell my tales of poverty."  
  
Tomoe nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry that Anata isn't here to meet you. He's ... on other business." A dark shadow flitted through Tomoe's dark eyes like the raven she took her name from.  
  
"The Bakumatsu." Kaoru nodded. "I realized. I heard Katsura found a new assassin, but it makes sense that Kenshin-san would want to see that battle through to the finish."  
  
"I should have known, you're never around when he is home. Do you avoid all your fellow swordsmen so arduously?" Tomoe asked gently.  
  
"Just the ones that want to pick fights. But Kenshin... he's still curious about that night in the forest." She sighted and opened the screen for her friend. Tomoe slipped off her Geta and entered, pausing while Kaoru untied the thongs from her traveling sandals. Kaoru stepped into the house proper after she'd dusted herself off. "I'm not really comfortable talking about that."  
  
"None of us are." Tomoe allowed as she took Kaoru's pack and laid it in a corner.  
  
Kaoru nodded and pulled out a rope-woven net of vegetables and some fish from her strapped on basket. "Some daikon radish, taro root, and fish. I figured this close to winter you couldn't spare too much so I brought tonight's dinner."  
  
Tomoe sighed. "It's true, there's not much to put away for winter without Kenshin here to ply his medicines, but you bring in so many things from your travels that we'll be just fine." Tomoe took the sack. "There's more than enough here for three meals at least. I suppose trying to get you to keep some is going to be impossible yet again?"  
  
Kaoru grinned unrepentantly and Tomoe sighed. "You do so much for us, and I repay so little..."  
  
Kaoru cocked her head at a soft scuffle outside. "Speaking of little..."   
  
"Nee-chan! Nee-chan!" Enishi burst through the door, stopping only to shut it again and slip off his shoes. "The neighbors said they saw Kamiya-san on the road...oh."  
  
Kaoru waved sheepishly. "Hi, sorry to beat you here."  
  
Enishi sighed. "Darn, I wanted to surprise you with my training." He sighed again. "Oh well, after dinner?"  
  
"Sure." Kaoru smiled and ruffled his hair. "We'll do some forms after supper."  
  
"Shatei, be a dear and get some water for the tea please? Maybe some fire wood?"  
  
Enishi nodded and was out the door before another word was said. Tomoe smiled. "He's always so happy when you visit. Kenshin and I are so busy with work that I'm afraid we have little time for him. When you train him in Kenjutsu it's like you're his surrogate older sister." Tome placed a hand over her friend's. "This family in forever in your debt. When you appeared in the forest that night and pulled me out of Kenshin's sword path, you saved my life. And when you searched the hills and brought Enishi out of hiding you saved his sanity. The events of that night were no thing for a child to see, whatever you said to him to make him understand about Kenshin... I will always love you like a sister for it."  
  
Kaoru squeezed Tomoe's hand. "I know, trust me." She smiled. "All the demons of the Meido couldn't have stopped me from helping you." She smiled tiredly. "If you really love me, please cook the fish. I'm dying from my own cooking."  
  
Tomoe giggled. "Really.. all right. I will." She took the cover off the fire pit and stirred up the coals.  
  
"Kaoru.." she asked as she set the grill rack over the   
fire. "Will you be wintering here with me again?"  
  
Kaoru shook her head. "No... it's nearly the time for me to move on. The Bakumatsu will end soon and then Kenshin will be here to care for you. I really don't do well with four walls anymore. I have some business to take care of in Edo, then I'll be off for new horizons."  
  
Tome paused in laying the fish on the grill. "I see. You'll won't be returning then..."  
  
Kaoru stirred guiltily. "Not forever, I'll be back through every year or so. I made a promise to keep an eye on you until Kenshin was back here. Once he's here, I'll have responsibilities in other places."  
  
Tomoe covered the fish and looked at Kaoru. "Responsibilities like the ones that led you to save me in the forest?"  
  
Kaoru flushed, but Tomoe continued. "I could tell, even then. You... were in that forest for one reason and one only. You were there to save us." She paused. "Kaoru, I don't know who or what you really are , but I know there seem to be no accidents where you're concerned. You seem to know everything that happens around you. Like the way you're so certain about when the Bakumatsu will end. When Kenshin left you promised me he'd be back before the cherry blossoms fell. I believe you... so I won't try and keep you here. I know you'll be out helping another family. I have no right to ask but grant me this one favor, when you travel to Edo, take Enishi with you. This isn't a place for a young boy to grow up, and I know Father needs him. The trip will give him time to say good-bye to you."  
  
"Tomoe-chan..."  
  
Tomoe touched the crossed scar on her dear friend's right cheek. "I understand, you bear the same mark as my anata. People like you are meant to help others."  
  
***  
  
Waving good-bye to Tomoe as she stood before the house, beneath the plum tree waving back as Kaoru and Enishi as they left for Edo would be the last memory Kaoru would hold of the woman she'd given her life for, she did not see Tomoe again for a long time.  
  
As she promised she delivered Enishi into Edo, now Tokyo. He was reluctant to leave his sword master until she referred him to her father's school. She watched in concealment as Enishi marched into the Kamiya Dojo and demanded a place in the school by word of Kaoru Kamiya.  
  
She smiled gently as her father promptly fell on his ass. Raven, the messenger who brought her here had informed her of several changes made to her life... like her birth date. Officially she'd left home and was reported missing.  
  
She watched carefully impassive as her father broke down and cried as Enishi reported exactly how he had met Kaoru and every single little thing she'd done for his family, including his training.  
  
As the other students led him inside the Dojo, Koinosuke Kamiya stood before the bushes she's used as cover and addressed empty air.  
  
"I have a daughter who left my home in heated anger. She claimed I did not practice my principals in the manner they deserve. I hope she understands now that I practice them in the way I know best... teaching them. I have heard that she too is teaching my principals and practicing them as her way of life... I cannot be prouder of my daughter."  
  
Kaoru swiftly debated leaving the bushes... but she knew her destiny. "Your daughter does understand, and hopes her father will understand why she left. She hopes he will also understand that she has gained knowledge in many things that weigh heavily on her heart and owes her life to her path. She loves her father with all her heart and hopes she can return one day once her path in complete."  
  
Koinosuke smiled briefly. "The Ronin's code is that all roads lead home. She will return when she needs it most. I love my daughter with all my heart and bless her path that it will lead her safely home."  
  
Tears softly fell from Kaoru's cheeks as Koinosuke re-entered the Dojo, for she knew it would be the last time she ever saw her father alive.  
  
And so Kaoru Kamiya of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu journeyed for ten years, helping those she could, praying for those she could not. She touched many lives, and saved more before she once again set foot in Tokyo.  
  
***********  
Prologue-end  
***********  
  
*Seiyuu* I bet you all think I'm insane. I wrote this story mostly to give Enishi another chance, and also because I hate the way Kaoru's character is so neglected. I see in her the potential to become more than Kenshin would be as a protector Ronin. Speaking of Ronin, I'll be using that term instead of Rurouni. Mostly because I think a different word would make this more of Kaoru's adventure than her just pretending to be Kenshin, because that's not what this story is about. That and Rurouni is a pain in the butt to spell repeatedly.  
-that's all for now! Ja! 


	2. Chapter l Road's End

  
***  
Chapter One; Road's End  
***  
For the sword outwears its sheath,  
And the soul wears out the breast,  
And the heart must pause to breathe  
-We'll Go No More, by Lord Byron  
***  
  
A familiar night surrounded the newcomer into Tokyo's arms, dense fog hugged the ground but he sky was clear with an awesome spectacle of stars in the sky. It was a night in which things were meant to happen.  
  
The Ronin's worn sandals made a soft scuff scuff on the paved street. The Ronin was garbed in a back gi and blue hakama, both being heavily worn and painstakingly patched in places. The only mark of prosperity was the sword the Ronin carried, the sheath was made of oak and lovingly polished.  
  
The still of the night was broken by the sound of slightly newer sandals running down the same alley the newcomer had chosen to walk.  
  
"Hold it right there, Battousai!!"  
  
The newcomer stopped and blinked in surprise at the young boy, no more that ten, brandishing a bokken at the Ronin.  
  
"Huh?" came the intelligent reply.  
  
The boy bristled. "Don't you 'huh' me! Prepare for battle, murderer!" he howled as he threw himself into his attack.  
  
Given little choice in the fight, the Ronin leapt nimbly out of the way to land gracefully on a nearby yatai...only to realize that mistake before it could be corrected.  
  
The boy winced as the cart gave way under the Ronin's weight.  
  
"Are you really Battousai?" he asked the Ronin now buried in kindling and bonsai trees. "I heard you killed three more people last night in a single swing!"  
  
He walked over to the yatai... only to stop as the Ronin wrestled out of the mess and pushed off the straw hat that had been obscuring his... her face.  
  
The boy made a highly undignified noise as the Ronin pushed her long glossy black bags out of her face to glare at him indignantly. "I'm just a wandering Ronin, a female one at that." She said defensively as she fought to sit up. She tugged at the blade at her waist. "Do you really believe this could slay three people in a single swing?" she asked as she extended it to him. "I'd be lucky manage one, if I were so inclined."  
  
The boy look in amazement at what he had mistaken for a sword. "It's just a wooden bokken. Like mine."  
  
"So am I free to go?" she asked in annoyance.  
  
"Hey!" the boy scowled at her. "Don't you know? Battousai's gone mad! He's been murdering people on the streets every night for a week; you wear this thing like a sword so anyone could suspect you! You want to get yourself arrested or something?"  
  
"Now, look..." she started, but was interrupted by the blare of police whistles.  
  
The boy frowned. "Something's happening." He cried as he took off after them.  
  
The ronin sighed and looked up at the sky. "This is not funny." She told it.  
  
A few streets over an extremely tall, brusque man stood in a knot of policemen casually slashing his sword, expertly killing policemen at random. The boy used a few stacked boxes as a springboard and hopped onto the rooftops of the buildings outlining the alleyway.  
  
"Weak! Weak, you're all a bunch of weaklings! Is this the best Tokyo can muster?" Battousai howled, slicing through humans like wheat under a thresher.  
  
"You're going down, Battousai!" the boy launched himself from the rooftop and hurled himself at the swordsman. The boy spun in mid-air and brought his bokken around for what would have been a very impressive side swept assault.  
  
'Battousai' casually blocked the boy's frenetic attack. "Sloppy." He murmured half to himself as he used the boy's weight to throw him against the wall opposite him.  
  
"Die." He howled bringing his katana down to slay the child. The boy folded on himself to make himself smaller... then he realized the ronin from earlier was holding him.  
  
Battousai snorted at the woman who had stolen his prey. "I am the Hitokiri Battousai, I use the Kamiya Kasshin Style!" he cried as he fled into the night.  
  
"Stop!" the boy cried. "Come back... ugh." His eyes rolled back into his head as he succumbed to the nerve tap the ronin woman administered unto the back of his neck. She watched Gohei run away and then looked at the boy in her arms. "Yahiko, Yahiko. What am I going to do with you?" she murmured.  
  
***  
  
Dawn greeted the Kamiya Dojo with open arms, Kaoru smiled as the warm rays bathed her in their welcoming embrace. The entire house and city seemed to be saying 'Welcome home, you have been missed!"  
  
Kaoru smiled into the simmering miso. Yahiko would wake up soon and he would undoubtedly be hungry, if he was anything like the Yahiko she remembered.  
  
She smiled as Ayame and Suzume counted their way up to her, their arms full of garden vegetables. Kaoru smiled as memories of yesteryear crept up behind her, even though technically they had never happened. "Now, now." she chided gently before the girls could dump them in the miso. "We don't need so much." The girls giggled, as she took the vegetables from them. "We'll just put these in the larder for later."  
  
The ten years of wandering under her belt had done more than sharpen her sword skills. Many times she had earned her bread by caring for the children of villages as their parents tended the fields.   
  
From behind the sound of pounding feet told Kaoru that her patient was up. Predictably the screen slammed open and Yahiko tumbled out. "Are you still here?!"  
  
KKaoru chuckled. "Yes, I apologize for interrupting you last night but you seemed in need of aid. I hope you don't mind," she nodded towards the wok. ", but I made use of your garden to make a bit of breakfast. Ayame and Suzume have been quite helpful. We've already become fast friends!" at this point Ayame and Suzume dog piled her adding their agreements.  
  
"Here! She can make mouse- rice balls!" Ayame cried happily, while offering Yahiko the tray. Kaoru winced... they were rabbits.  
  
"That's great, Aya-chan." Yahiko murmured indulgently while accepting one. He returned his attention to Kaoru. "How did you know this was my dojo?"  
  
Kaoru shrugged expansively. "I've heard many things. Even a few rumors about a school that preaches the protection of people over bloodshed and the young boy who will inherit it."  
  
Yahiko took a bite of the rice-ball. "Wha...." his sentence trailed off as he stared at the rice-ball. "This.... this is..." he began to tremble ever so slightly.  
  
Kaoru flinched, for all her travels had improved her sword style her cooking still left much to be...  
  
"These are great! I've never tasted anything so good!" he cried and proceeded to wolf down the rice ball and followed it with a second. "After sensei's cooking I thought I'd never taste good food again!"  
  
Kaoru flushed and tasted one of them herself... she couldn't see what he was talking about. They were the same as they ever were to her. She shrugged and ladled out some soup for herself and the children.  
  
"Thank you." Yahiko said as he accepted the bowl. "I, ah, couldn't help but notice you patched up the wound I got from the Battousai... I'd like to thank you for that too."  
  
Kaoru snorted. "I did no such thing."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Kaoru chuckled. "I hate to burst your bubble kid, but the man you faced last night was not Battousai."  
  
Yahiko sprang up. "You've gotta be kidding! He's gotta be, the way he was slaughtering those policemen last night, only the monster of legend could have done that!"  
  
Kaoru sipped some miso out of her own bowl. "Myoujin-san, allow me to tell you this one thing, had that man truly been the Hitokiri Battousai. You would have been dead now. That man is an impostor. Simply because he says that he is Battousai the Assassin does not mean it is so." she sipped her miso again and giggled. "Besides, Battousai is five feet nothing with bright red hair."  
  
Yahiko exhaled gustily. "Damn, if it isn't Battousai, then who is it?" he groaned. "With Enishi gone, I can't protect the School. Even if he isn't Battousai...." he stared at his sandals.  
  
Kaoru blinked at this rare show of humility, could this be the same Yahiko that she remembered? She shook her head briskly. "You mentioned Enishi, where is he if not here?"  
  
Yahiko blinked. "You know Yukishiro-sensei?" he frowned suddenly. "and while we're at it, how do you know my name?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
Kaoru smiled benignly. "How rude I've been, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Kaoru; I was Enishi's tutor when he was young. I taught him the basics of Kenjutsu before he came here."  
  
Yahiko flushed. "Oh... I... forgive my rudeness. Enishi's father took ill just before all this began happening. I've tried to write to him, even go to his father's villa, but Battousai has always interfered somehow."  
  
Kaoru frowned. "Interfered?" she asked delicately.  
  
"Yes," Yahiko murmured. "He attacked the man I entrusted the letter to and began his slaughters every night I tried to go out. I can't imagine what grudge he has against the Dojo, but he's almost destroyed us. The students have all left except for me, the only thing left is the practice hall..."  
  
Kaoru set down her bowl. "That seems to be a problem. Maybe it would be best if we got you away from here."  
  
Yahiko burst up from his seat. "Haven't you been listening, Battousai or whoever he is won't let me escape!" Yahiko growled. "As it is, you're in danger just visiting!"  
  
Kaoru smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You aren't alone here any more, Yahiko. If I may, I'd like to stay here and help."  
  
Yahiko jerked away. "You'd just be in the way... you can stay the night, but in the morning you'd better get going."  
  
Kaoru retrieved her hands and sat back on her heels. "If it's so dangerous, why are Ayame and Suzume here?"  
  
Yahiko flinched. "Their Grandpa runs a clinic a few blocks away and they have to go somewhere during the day so they won't be underfoot... and..."  
  
Kaoru nodded her understanding. "I see, well then. It seems you will have company for tonight... at least." She winked good-naturedly. She gestured to the tray. "Eat up, your problems are never so far away as when you get a chance at a good meal."  
  
Yahiko smiled and snatched another rice ball. "Thanks!"  
  
***  
  
Kaoru smiled as Dr. Genzai left with his grandchildren milling about his legs. The old man had been startled to see her there, but thank fully he'd caught her wink and kept quiet about her full identity. She would have to stop by the clinic and have a nice visit with him once Gohei was taken care of.  
  
Gohei...  
  
Kaoru frowned and would have tucked her arms into her gi in an imitation of Kenshin when he was thinking (just for nostalgia), but as she was a woman and had more to reveal in the chest area she merely tucked her hands into the opposite sleeves.  
  
She sighed; Gohei would be after the fall of the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo again, no doubt. He wasn't a terribly imaginative individual... but there was no reason for him to be.  
  
She could remember with crystal clarity his thumb sticking out at odds with the rest of his hand; obviously crippled by a sword. That much was clear... but try as she might she couldn't remember Gohei as one of her father's students in her current time line.  
  
With so many changes to the time line, other things would have changed as well. She willed her mind into a trace-like state where she could analyze the world about her.  
  
Gohei would have been a student here... 11 years ago, eleven years ago she had been... watching over Tomoe in the little farming community Kenshin had hidden her in while the Bakumatsu was in its death throes.   
  
When she'd been in the Dojo, Gohei would probably have been a first year apprentice and well beneath her notice as Advanced Class Shinhondai. He probably hadn't started causing trouble until long after she'd left.  
  
Kaoru sighed, at least she had that straight in her head... she chuckled as she strolled through the familiar yet strange halls of her birthplace... so many little changes and yet so many things still the same.  
  
"Looks the same to me." Raven commented from her perching place on the roof.  
  
Kaoru glanced up at her. "Yes and no. It's obvious two healthy young men have been living here as opposed to a lonely young woman."  
  
Raven faded out and reappeared next to Kaoru on the outside walk. "I don't see it." She said disparagingly as she looked over the surrounding architecture.  
  
"Repairs Raven." Kaoru sighed. "It's in better repair. You know, the Mr. Fix It thing men do."  
  
Raven blinked. "OH!" She giggled and tapped the tiny white skull that dangled from her left ear. "I see it, now." She blinked out of sight just as Yahiko turned the corner before them.   
  
"Who were you talking to?" he asked, looking at her oddly.  
  
Kaoru shrugged and grinned in an unconscious imitation of Kenshin at his goofiest, once she realized what she was doing she quit in a hurry and settled for a serene smile. "Just thinking out loud, it happens when you're alone a lot. Please don't let it bother you."  
  
"Yeah..." Yahiko scratched the back of his head. "Uh, Kaoru-san. It's getting close to supper time and I was wondering if you would..."  
  
Kaoru sucked in her breath. "Is it really so late? Oh dear, I really have been out of it. I'll start dinner for you, how about that?"  
  
Yahiko relaxed. "Arigotou, Kaoru-san. I really appreciate it... usually Enishi cooks, bleagh!"  
  
Kaoru chuckled at Yahiko's comical face. "Come and talk to me while I cook." Kaoru offered. "It will make the work go faster."  
  
Yahiko nodded and led Kaoru to the kitchen.  
  
"Kaoru-san? I've been meaning to ask you..." Yahiko paused as they reached the kitchen wing and pushed the shoji open for Kaoru. "Why do you wear a bokken instead of a real sword? Usually thugs have real ones hidden inside their staffs but you don't."  
  
Kaoru chuckled. "Well, are we being frank here, Myoujin-san?"   
  
Yahiko blushed. "Please, call me Yahiko."  
  
Kaoru nodded. "All right, to tell the truth I can't afford a real sword so I have to make due with a wooden one!"  
  
Yahiko face vaulted. "Whaaat?"  
  
Kaoru giggled merrily and made for the vegetable bin. "Well, that's not the whole of it... let's see, what have we here..."  
  
***  
  
Yahiko watched Kaoru sort through the vegetables, murmuring to herself.  
  
Without exception, this was the -weirdest- woman he had ever met!  
  
She walked like a competent swordsman and the way the bokken at her belt moved with her was a testament to her skills. Why was she a ronin then?  
  
Yahiko didn't consider himself naive, he'd lived on the streets until he'd made the mistake of picking the wrong pocket... or the right pocket depending on how you looked at it. One day he was working as an unpaid drudge for the local Yakuza and had attempted to pick an old man's pocket, the next day the old man's son had caught him, spirited him away from the Yakuza and had given him a place at this Dojo on the condition that he take it over one day.  
  
He was well aware that even in the days when swords had been legal those swords-women- had been a rare commodity. It had been even more rare for them to progress very far (provided that they found someone willing to teach them) and the only jobs that were usually available these days were as bouncers in the red light districts and among the Yakuza.  
  
Kaoru-san was something of a mystery. Here she claimed to know Battousai the Hitokiri by sight and she'd been Enishi's first Sensei...  
  
Come to think of it, she didn't look old enough to be Enishi's first sensei.  
  
As if sensing his thoughts, Kaoru looked up at him over her shoulder through the thick, glossy black bangs that framed both sides of her face and fell down to brush her throat. She smiled that serene smile of hers, maybe she'd spent time at one of those Zen temples, and it wasn't inconceivable that the monks had taught her sword work.  
  
"I see questions in your eyes." Kaoru said gently in that smooth tone of hers.  
  
Her tone of voice bothered Yahiko somehow, it seemed... not quite right to him, he kept on expecting... he wasn't sure what.  
  
"Um... ah... ano..." he stammered and yelped as Kaoru thrust a knife and a daikon radish into his hands.  
  
"Could you chop these up for me?" she asked with another one of those ethereal smiles.  
  
Yahiko nodded dumbly and obediently went to the chopping boards. "What shape?"  
  
"Round please, I'll be making Oden." She replied and turned to the wok he had heat over an open flame. "Is there something else you wanted to ask me?" she asked as she ladled water into it.  
  
Yahiko looked down to the vegetables he was chopping. "A lot of things, I hope you won't take offense but... you really look too young to be Enishi's first sensei. He started his lessons when he was..."  
  
"Nine and a half." Kaoru interjected. "He was quite the natural. I myself was but seventeen at the time."  
  
Yahiko dropped the knife in shock. "Seventeen!!! That would make you...."  
  
"Twenty-eight." She laughed and shook the ladle at Yahiko in mock chiding. "Twenty-nine in a few months." she blinked at the tragic look on Yahiko's face. "Is there something wrong?"  
  
Yahiko shook himself. "That's just not right!" he protested.  
  
"Well, maybe if you let it sink in for a while." Kaoru suggested. "Perhaps while you chop those vegetables?"  
  
"Um.. er..." Yahiko reached for the knife and was about to continue his chopping when a boisterous voice rolled across the Dojo.  
  
"Hey! Yahiko! Where are ya, runt? I hope you've got dinner started because I'm bushed!"  
  
Yahiko leapt his feet, cleaver forgotten. "It's Enishi!" He breathed, relief evident in every line of his young body. "I'm saved!"  
  
***  
End Chapter One  
  
Seiyuu- Bet you never thought you'd hear someone in RK say -that- didya? 


	3. Chapter ll Sky at Morning

***  
Chapter Two; Sky at Morning  
***  
I came by myself to a very crowded place  
I was looking for someone who had lines in her face  
I found her there but she was past all concern  
I asked her to hold me, I said, "Lady, unfold me,"  
But she scorned me and she told me  
I was dead and I could never return  
-Leonard Cohen  
***  
  
Kaoru ducked her head as Yahiko fled the kitchen to greet Enishi. She wasn't sure whether she wanted to face Enishi again, not after ten years. He'd be a grown man now.  
  
"He's still hurting for you something bad, if you want to know." Raven volunteered as she came into being beside Kaoru. "That's why Yahiko is here as the Dojo's heir, Enishi wanted to train him to take over the Dojo so that he would be free to go looking for you."  
  
Kaoru flinched. "Maybe coming back wasn't the best of ideas."  
  
"You don't have a choice." Raven said staunchly. "This is the way it supposed to be."  
  
"Enishi is -supposed- to be an insane weapons merchant right now." Kaoru said scathingly. "I should have been the idiot out there challenging Gohei last night."  
  
Raven scowled. "Haven't you learned anything? Remember the Law! The Wanderer Tortured by His (or Her) own Past must arrive at the Dojo tonight and save the Heir from False Assassin. Otherwise..."  
  
"Yes." Kaoru waved a dismissive hand. "I know, otherwise I could trigger a paradox. I understand." she sighed and adjusted the bokken at her belt. "We all have roles we must play..."

***

The young man in Chinese clothing, caught in the act of kicking off his shoes in the genkan, made a noise of surprise (something like GRGK!) when Yahiko pounced on him.  
  
"You're back!" the ten-year-old enthused, he got a strangle hold on the older boy's neck and growled into his ear. "Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea what's been going on since you left?"  
  
Kaoru watched the exchange by peeking covertly around corner of the kitchen door.  
  
The older boy, Enishi obviously, wrestled out of Yahiko's sleeper hold and pinned the boy to the ground, preparing to tickle the breath out of him... until Yahiko began extolling the extent of the damage done by the false Battousai.  
  
Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief when Enishi released Yahiko, dusted the boy off and sat down to listen with a sympathetic ear to what had happened.  
  
She didn't listen too closely to Yahiko's confessions, after all they weren't meant for her ears, but instead she watched Enishi's eyes and face for any hints of madness. She hoped not to find any but Raven had hinted that because Enishi had been mad in the previous time line it might have carried over into this new series of events even though they'd eliminated the cause of said madness.  
  
However Enishi's eyes, though still an unsettling shade of red, were clear and lucid behind his tinted glasses. His hair was still shock white, but Raven had explained that his hair was the result of a something called a 'genetic mutation', that same 'mutation' was also responsible for that ability Enishi had to turn himself into some sort of superhuman.  
  
"Look, Yahiko." Enishi said sternly, breaking Kaoru's train of thought. "That guy last night couldn't have possibly been the Battousai..."  
  
"I know." Yahiko replied. "That's what Kaoru-san said, don't tell me you know him too!"  
  
Enishi went still in shock. "Did you just say...?"

Yahiko nodded. "The Ronin who saved me last night, that was her name." Kaoru sighed at the canny look on Yahiko's face, he was testing her story. Smart child. "Do you know her?" he pressed.  
  
Enishi grabbed Yahiko and held him up to his face. "Is she still here? Spill it runt! Which way did she go?"  
  
Kaoru had to smile in spite of herself... this is where she came in. She stood up, dusted off her hakama and entered the front hall.  
  
"Myougin-san? Where do you keep the oolong tea?" she called. Even though she was well aware of it's location (on the tea shelf in the box labeled 'oolong') but it was a convenient excuse.  
  
Enishi dropped Yahiko and leapt to his feet. "Sensei!" he whispered in shock.  
  
***  
  
As few as ten minutes ago, Enishi had believed that his sole chance at being reunited with Kaoru Kamiya lay in training Yahiko to take over the Mastery of the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo.  
  
He'd worked hard and fought hard for ten long years to become good enough with a sword that he could join Kaoru on her mysterious journeying.  
  
Only to have his dream snatched away before his eyes, just before his hands closed around it, by Kamiya-sama's death... he still mourned that...  
  
She stood in the hall way, dressed in shabby men's clothing with her sleeves tied back and bits of radish clinging to her calloused hands. He hair had grown longer and her pony tail almost reached the back of her knees and Kami only knew when she'd cut her bangs last for they had grown long to frame her face and tickle her throat.  
  
"Hello, Enishi. Did you train hard under Ue?" she asked, and he could hear that age had roughened and mellowed her voice.  
  
The Goddess from his childhood stood before him... and she was a mere human.  
  
Then Kaoru brushed her bangs out of her eyes, giving a brief flash of cobalt eyes and the hideous x-shaped scar on her cheek... suddenly she was beautiful and Enishi's breath stuck painfully in his throat.  
  
***  
  
Kaoru had no warning other that the tensing of Enishi's muscles, her hand reflexively darted for her bokken but she topped herself.  
  
The next thing she knew, Enishi was nearly crushing the air from her lungs.  
  
'Did I miss it?' Kaoru panicked in the privacy of her mind. 'Is it me he hates?'  
  
Then hot tears stung the tanned flesh of her neck and she knew... Kaoru returned Enishi's embrace and murmured comforting nonsense things in his ear the same way she had the night Tomoe had almost died.  
  
Enishi suddenly pulled away and there was no trace of the tears in his eyes. "You're not leaving again." it wasn't a question.  
  
Kaoru nodded and touched the shiny wall of the hall. "Yes, I always knew when I came home it would be for keeps."  
  
"Your father's dead, he left the Dojo to me." Enishi continued ruthlessly.  
  
Another nod. "I knew that too, that's why I'm here. Do you know where? I want to go make offerings..." she looked away as tears blurred her vision, she'd had so much less time with Ue in this time line than before... she mourned it.  
  
"Wha... what are you two talkin' about?" Yahiko demanded, sensing that he was the odd person out on this conversation.  
  
Kaoru smiled at the younger boy, a smile that (while she wasn't aware of it) had charmed many men and boys right out of their tabi. "I neglected to give you my full name when we met, Yahiko. I am Kaoru Kamiya, one time heir to the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo and the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."  
  
"You're in Tokyo to take over the Dojo?" Yahiko cried.  
  
"No." she shook her head. "No, I am here as an assistant teacher..." she glanced at Enishi. "If that is acceptable."  
  
"I said you weren't leaving." Enishi growled.  
  
Kaoru grinned, her real smile, not the tranquil one she adopted for casual conversation. "It's all settled then..." she winced. "The Oden!"  
  
Enishi blinked as the ex-ronin took off for the kitchen. "Oden?" he looked at Yahiko. "Oden?" he repeated.  
  
"She's cooking," the boy explained. "and boy is it better than the slop you make..."  
  
"Watch your mouth!" Enishi snarled and made a snatch at the younger boy. "It's not like yours is any better."  
  
Yahiko blew a raspberry at his sensei and danced out of reach. "At least -my- miso doesn't crunch!" he teased.  
  
***  
  
"I've discovered why Enishi can't cook but for some reason you can all of a sudden." Raven volunteered as Kaoru yanked the almost (sigh of relief) burned Oden off the flames and hurriedly transferred it into a serving bowl before the residual heat in the wok burned it.  
  
"And what would that be?" Kaoru asked distractedly... where did those two idiots put the chopsticks...?  
  
"It has something to do with the Law." Raven explained as she pulled the chopsticks and the dinner bowls out of a disused cabinet.

Kaoru stacked them in a wooden tub along with the rest of the meal and carried it to the dining room (sorry, don't know the proper Japanese term for that one) Raven floated along behind her.  
  
"For some reason," Raven gestured sketchily in the air as she spoke. "It's because you couldn't cook before, but Kenshin could. Now you're assuming Kenshin's role and Enishi has taken yours so now you can cook and Enishi can't."  
  
"You must have a lot of free time to think that out." Kaoru commented, causing her friend to make a face at her. She looked up when the two young men she would be living with from now on followed their noses to supper.  
  
Raven disappeared, presumably to occupy herself with whatever it was her job was (Kaoru still wasn't too clear on exactly what the messenger did for a living)  
  
"Wow!" Yahiko enthused. "That looks great!"  
  
"Smells good too." Enishi agreed.  
  
The two boys dug into their food, not noticing the tress tick underneath Kaoru's eye.  
  
'I swear, I'm doing nothing different...' she thought and started on her own meal. 'It's not fair!'  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
Back in the thug's hideout that Gohei Hiruma dared to call a Dojo, Gohei nursed his pride with a bottle of sake and a hot compress for his thumb (it ached when he exerted himself).  
  
One of his 'students' watched to make sure the sake didn't stop flowing until Gohei's thumb stopped hurting. If the giant ever ran out of booze before he numbed himself then he tended to take his frustrations out of the nearest warm body.  
  
"I could swear I've met that woman before." Gohei grumbled into his liquor. "Something about those eyes... those aren't the eyes of a common stick waving loser."  
  
The 'student' refilled Gohei's sake bottle and while his attention was diverted, slipped a little white power into it. Opium powder. That ought to speed things up...  
  
Unfortunately, Gohei chose that moment to quit drinking. He glared at his 'student' through red-rimmed eyes. "Go get the others together, we're gonna finish off the Kamiya Kasshin tonight!"  
  
***  
  
"He's on the move." Raven informed Kaoru, who was elbow deep in dishwater.  
  
"He would be." Kaoru replied. "How many thugs will he bring to make himself bee in control?"  
  
"Roughly 18, give or take... the sake was flowing freely when I checked. Some may be out of it." Raven shrugged. "More than your boys could handle, but well within your limits." he black eyes twinkled. "Now... what was your last count?"  
  
Kaoru flushed. "Raven!" she warned.  
  
"Fifty-two, I believe?" the Latina messenger continued as if she hadn't heard. "Now that is impressive!"  
  
"It was forty-one." Kaoru groused, "The police-men don't count." she was long past the point where body counts mattered to her, but Raven delighted in the tallying.  
  
Raven shrugged and took up a dishtowel to dry bowls as Kaoru washed them. "Anyway, let's hurry. They'll be here within the hour."  
  
Kaoru cast a glance outside the kitchen smoke-escape window. "It'll be dark by then." she cast a glance on her informant. "Where are Enishi and Yahiko?"  
  
Raven grinned back nastily. "At the bath, Enishi is heating up the tub and Yahiko is filling it up." she nudged Kaoru. "Maybe he might want for company?"  
  
"Get your mind out of the gutter!" Kaoru snarled. "He's eight years younger than me! That would be robbing the cradle!"  
  
"Picky, picky." Raven chided. "And Himura was, what? Eleven years older than you?"  
  
"That's different..."  
  
"How so?" Raven insisted. "It's been ten years since you looked at a man in the proper fashion, and don't tell me I'm wrong because I was there! I would have known if you did the dirty."  
  
Kaoru gave Raven a supremely dirty look. "What about the reason I'm here doing all this? Doesn't that count for anything?"  
  
"That reason is married." Raven said primly. "and if he knew anything of this he'd probably agree with me."  
  
"Not Enishi." Kaoru said firmly. "He's too much like a little brother, I'd never be able to look Tomoe in the face again... besides..." she sighed and stopped washing the dishes, suddenly over come by a wave of homesickness. "Besides... no one is my Kenshin."  
  
Raven bit her tongue. "I apologize... I know how you feel, I was being insensitive."  
  
"No." Kaoru sighed. "You were being logical, but I don't want to move on. I can't do what I need to do without the comfort that it's for a greater cause... even if it might not be."  
  
Raven nodded. "Forgive me?"  
  
"Nothing to forgive."  
  
***  
  
By the time Yahiko had the tub filled up, Enishi had a merry blaze going underneath it to heat the bath.  
  
"Who gets first wash?" Yahiko asked as he squatted beside his sensei.  
  
"Think, runt." Enishi said gruffly. "Which of us is the most likely to have gone the longest without a hot bath?"  
  
"I'll get Kaoru-san, then." the apprentice agreed and ran off to fetch her.  
  
Enishi drug the hem of his sleeve across his forehead to sop up the accumulated sweat from his brow.  
  
A shadow appeared on the ground before him.  
  
"No, you can't borrow anymore money here, Sagara." he informed the newcomer before he could even speak.  
  
"I love you too, Yukishiro." the man replied. He was tall, even by western standards. His spiky brown hair was mostly caught in a ponytail but several chunks around his hairline stuck up, defying gravity. He wore a fairly non descript outfit, it was only notable because it wasn't a normal Japanese gi and hakama.   
  
He looked up at the tall, lanky man and gave him a once over. "Well, the Meido has sprouted flowers." he commented. "You finally got rid of that stupid white ensemble."  
  
"Maa Maa." Sanosuke made placating gestures. "No need to be catty."  
  
Enishi snorted. "How bad in debt are you?"  
  
Sanosuke grinned winningly. "I'm not in debt... yet. Actually I currently have gainful employment."  
  
Enishi snorted with laughter. "'Gainful employment'!" he mocked. "Have you been reading again?"  
  
"Watch yer mouth!" Sanosuke threatened. "I've done no such thing; I got a job, are the words small enough for you?"  
  
"Then why are you here?" Enishi pressed, apparently not bothered by his squatting position on the ground where Sanosuke could tower over him.  
  
"I heard some bad talk down in Ruffian Row." Sanosuke said. "So now I'm looking for someone, to pass on a warning."  
  
"A warning?"  
  
The street fighter nodded. "Yeah, you ain't happened to have seen a kenshi around here, a female one? She has long black hair and an x-shaped scar of her left cheek. She carries a bokken too."  
  
Enishi frowned. "That would be Kaoru Kamiya, the residing Master of the Kasshin style."  
  
Sanosuke whistled appreciatively. "So it -is- her, then? No wonder she risked her neck for the runt last night. Is she around, I got some information she might be interested in."  
  
"And that would be?"  
  
Both the men turned to face Kaoru who, followed by Yahiko, was approaching them with a towel thrown over her shoulders.  
  
"Hey." Sanosuke waved in what he must have thought was a cool manner. "I'm Sanosuke Sagara."  
  
"I know who you are." Kaoru acknowledged. "What is this information you say you have?"  
  
Sanosuke snickered. "See, Yuki-chan?" he teased Enishi. "She's heard of me, now ya gonna believe I've got a rep?"  
  
Enishi snorted. "Spill, Sagara."  
  
He gave a long-suffering sigh. "I get no respect. You saw the bugger who's been murdering people last night, didn't you?" he asked Kaoru, who nodded. "Well, I dunno if you know this but he used to be a student here."  
  
"Bite your tongue, rooster-head!" Enishi snarled. "That bastard never trained here!"  
  
"I'm well aware of that." Kaoru said as if Enishi hadn't spoken. "His name is Gohei Hiruma, he was expelled nearly eleven years ago after my father caught him abusing the junior students. His right thumb is crippled and he's spent the past eleven years perfecting a left handed sword style in order to revenge himself on this school." she smiled. "Is that what you had to say?"  
  
Sanosuke laughed. "You sure live up to your reputation, do you -really- know everything?"  
  
"No," she demurred. "It just appears that way. Was there anything else?"  
  
"Actually, I got word that he and his thugs are moving out tonight. I think they might make a try for this place." he cracked his knuckles for emphasis. "I haven't had a good throw-down for ages, feel like letting me cut in?"  
  
Kaoru shook her head. "No, I believe it might be a better idea if you let Kasshin business stay solely Kasshin business. Thank you for the information." she bowed. "As you can see, we're settling down for the night perhaps you could visit again another time?"  
  
Sanosuke laughed. "I didn't think you'd need my information, after all, word on the streets is that the Ronin Kenshi woman sees all and knows all." he waved his hands on either side of his face. "Her eyes can see into a man's soul and right out the other side!"  
  
Kaoru chuckled. "Not really..."  
  
"Nah, I just figure got some good informants." he shrugged. "Anytime you feel like taking a fight easy though get word to ruffian row, eh?"  
  
"I'll do that." Kaoru agreed. "Good-bye."  
  
Sanosuke turned on his heel and left the courtyard of the Dojo. He paused outside the gates... shook his head, and kept walking. All the time, his self-assured smirk never left his face.  
  
"Cocky rooster-head." Yahiko mumbled. "Someone needs to take him down a notch or seven."  
  
Kaoru shook her head at the young boy. "No, he has something to be cocky about." she told him. "His ki is very powerful."  
  
'Too powerful.' she thought in the privacy of her own mind. 'And too well controlled, he may act like the Sano I remember... but he's a completely different fighter. It feels as if he's been concentrating solely on his fighter's ki... although I have no room to throw stones' she smiled ironically. Sanosuke just might prove to be a valuable asset in the coming times.  
  
"You taking first bath?" Enishi offered.  
  
"No," Kaoru declined and handed him the towel she'd brought with her. "I went to a bath house yesterday, I'll bathe in the morning, I always sweat in my sleep."  
  
"Okay." Enishi allowed and tossed the towel to Yahiko. "You first then, you've had a busier day than me."  
  
"Okay." Yahiko took the towel and looked at Kaoru. "I'll put the dishes away after my bath, you can go to bed now if you want. I set out a futon and quilt in the third bedroom."  
  
"That was my bedroom when I lived here, before." Kaoru noted and ruffled Yahiko's hair. "How nostalgic..." she murmured only half to herself. "Good night." she told them and left for the bed.  
  
She had no intention of sleeping tonight until after dealing with Gohei. She regretting missing out on the bath, her calves were sore from walking all the way from Hakone, but the hot water would have relaxed her muscles and made her slow.  
  
'I've fought and beaten more than eighteen men at a time.' she told herself. 'But I didn't get up to fifty-two men in a single battle by getting lax. Eighteen men is eighteen chances that one of them will get in that lucky blow.'  
  
*******  
End chapter Two  
*******  
  
Seiyuu- sorry guys, I didn't want to wait to introduce Sano-chan, he's gonna be a lot of fun though and wait until you see what evil things I've got planned for Megumi!!! 


	4. Chapter lll She's Got the Look

*******

Chapter 3: She's Got the Look

*******

I have eaten your bread and salt.

I have drunk your water and wine.  
The deaths ye died I have watched beside,  
And the lives ye led were mine.  
  
Was there aught that I did not share  
In vigil or toil or ease,  
One joy or woe that I did not know,  
Dear hearts across the seas?  
-Rudyard Kipling.

*******

They waited patiently in the darkness surrounding the Dojo, much like jackals about a wounded doe. Unlike Jackals however, they had forgotten that even a wounded Doe could kick.  
  
The doe in question lay in wait in the main practice hall, Enishi and Yahiko had gone to bed long ago... suspecting nothing.  
  
She preferred it that way; there were complications that could be avoided if she could do away with the intruders without a dashing display of heroics.  
  
That and she was just getting too damn old for dashing displays of heroics, they took more energy than they were worth.  
  
'Thirty is not old.' Kaoru chided herself, although waiting in the darkness to be attacked by a gang that didn't stand a chance in hell did tend to make one feel a little jaded.  
  
It was almost exactly midnight when they moved in, Raven informed her directly and Kaoru was waiting in the courtyard for them when they scaled the walls.  
  
She stood directly before the front entrance to her new and old home. Her bokken was still safely in her belt on the off chance that they would get smart and run away... they didn't.  
  
"Who's the bitch?" one thug hissed to another.  
  
"I dunno." the other muttered back. "She doesn't look scared, looks like we're expected."  
  
Gohei was the last over the wall, his landing was a little shaky and from behind the safety of her concealing bangs Kaoru grimaced. He was more than half drunk.  
  
"You..." he steadied himself and clapped a hand to the sword at his own belt. "Why do I know you?" he demanded.  
  
"You don't know me." Kaoru said quietly, one could almost mistake her voice for the wind whispering on the trees.  
  
The moon chose that moment to emerge from behind a concealing cloud and bathed the courtyard in silver light. Kaoru lifted her kin to shake her hair away from her face and the motion gave the illusion that her face was wreathed in white fire.  
  
Her pale hand dropped down to the bokken at her belt and she drew it out, agonizingly slow. "you should leave, you're trespassing."  
  
"Kill her!" Gohei ordered his men.  
  
Kaoru sighed and lazily unlimbered her muscles, seemingly unaware that more than a dozen men were rushing her all bigger and stronger than she. They all struck at the same time in a tight circle...  
  
Gohei howled with laughter. "You can't get... away..."  
  
From the heart of the knot of men came a flicker of movement, a black blur of pure motion that the naked eye could barely register. The bearded giant nearly convinced himself that it was a trick of his mind until Kaoru skidded to a halt a few steps away from him and all his men collapsed in a haphazard pile.  
  
Gohei fell on his butt and scrambled away from the woman. "Wha- what kind of demon are you!?"  
  
Kaoru shook her head. "If I had a sen for every time I heard someone say that..." she brushed her bangs out of her face again as they had fallen right back in her eyes during her brief burst of activity. She spun her weapon in the fingers of her left hand and then brought it back to the ready. "Are you prepared?"  
  
Gohei whimpered and cringed. "Spare me!" he begged. "I've done nothing to you!"  
  
"You don't have to have done anything to me, any decent person would have tried to save that child you tried to murder yesterday." Kaoru said coldly. "That same child that you would have killed tonight. Draw your sword and face me or are you afraid of engaging someone who can put up a fight?"  
  
Tears started to emerge from the behemoth's eyes as he contemplated his own end... he shook his head numbly.  
  
"Do it and the fact that you're attempting to dishonor my father's name and sword style with your bastardized technique need not even enter this battle." she hissed. "Get UP!"  
  
***  
  
Enishi snapped out of sleep at the first sounds of conflict. He leapt out of bed and wrestled himself into his trousers.  
  
Grabbing his own bokken he barreled into the hallway pausing only the pound on Yahiko's door. "Get up! The Dojo's under attack!"  
  
Frenzied scuffles ensued inside the room and Enishi went for the scene of the battle...  
  
***  
  
"Kamiya-sensei!"  
  
Kaoru's head snapped around to see the source of Enishi's bellow. He was standing outside the sleeping wing of the Dojo near the pile of comatose thugs.  
  
Gohei snarled and pulled out his sword. "You're mine!" he yelled as he went for Kaoru's unguarded back.  
  
"Look out!" Enishi cried, but he might as well have not bothered.  
  
Kaoru stepped nimbly to the left and Gohei's supremely sloppy overhead cross strike went benignly by. One tabi and sandal-clad foot darted out and knocked Gohei's legs out from under him.  
  
"That's more like it!" She praised him. "Fight me like a man."  
  
Gohei hit the ground and the air whooshed out of his lungs. Kaoru administered a judicious nerve tap to the back of his neck and he was down for the count.  
  
"That was too easy." She said to herself. There should have at least been some effort in taking down this man, the one who had once sought to burn her dojo down around her ears, preferably with her in it once he and his men had finished with her body.  
  
Something was just not right. She didn't even feel the hate that had burned in her heart when she thought about him as short as a year ago.  
  
"Kaoru-san!"  
  
"Kamiya-sensei!"  
  
Kaoru looked up at the two boys running up to her and slipped her bokken back into her belt. "Forgive the disturbance, Enishi, Yahiko." she nodded to each. "I was trying to keep the noise down."  
  
"Keep the..." Yahiko turned an angry red. "You were going to fight them all by yourself?!"  
  
"Correction." Enishi cuffed Yahiko lightly on the head. "She -did- fight them all by herself." he frowned at Kaoru. "Although, you could have woken us up when you heard them come over the wall."  
  
Kaoru ducked her head and hid her face behind the curtain of her hair. "I did not want to wake either of you and there wasn't much time." she said by way of apology... and caught herself on a yawn. "Oh dear, I'm still sleepy!" she yawned again and patted her mouth in the customary gesture of drowsiness.  
  
She patted both of her friends on the shoulder and walked past them to the bedrooms. "I'm going back to bed! Good night!"  
  
"But what about these creeps?" Enishi shouted after her, "Shouldn't we get the police."  
  
"You do that." Kaoru called back. "If they need a statement from me tell them to come back in the morning."  
  
Enishi and Yahiko watch her kick off her sandals, hop onto the wood boardwalk and go into the middle bedroom.  
  
"You heard her." Enishi said to Yahiko. "Go wake up some night watchmen!"  
  
"Why me!?" Yahiko complained.  
  
"Because I'm older than you and I say so!"  
  
Kaoru could hear them bicker even as she unfolded her futon and quilt, luckily Enishi hadn't come into this room or he'd have known that she'd never gone to sleep.  
  
She shucked off her shabby travel clothes and grimaced at them, they were already sweat-soaked and grimy from hiking to Tokyo from Hakone the day before... now they were just disgusting. The one change of clothes she had in her pack was nearly as bad.  
  
'I'll borrow some practice clothes from Enishi in the morning and do laundry.' Kaoru promised herself. Then she stopped and hung her head, little oni-bis appeared around her shoulders and her cheeks turned blue.  
  
'I really am turning into Kenshin!' she thought dully. 'Next thing you know I'll be saying Oro and calling every one -dono!'  
  
She shook herself and pulled the cord out of her ponytail and let her hair spill around her shoulders. Loose, it nearly reached her calves. 'I'm not going to think about that anymore!'  
  
Kaoru kicked her futon open and crawled underneath the quilt... she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.  
  
***  
  
The police did indeed want a statement and not only that, they also wanted to wake Kaoru up and take her down to their headquarters to file a report, but after Enishi carefully explained (with his hands around the offending officer's throat) that Kamiya-san had just returned from a long journey that morning and had spent the night fighting thugs who really should have been the police's responsibility. It would be the gentlemanly thing to do to give her a few days to rest up and then they would gladly receive an officer to the Dojo and give them their explanation.  
  
A bespectacled officer (notably, not the Chief of Police) arrived the next afternoon when Enishi and Yahiko were out corralling up their old students.  
  
Kaoru was alone in the dojo and hard at work trying to restore her old garments to something vaguely respectable looking... no luck so far.  
  
The officer entered through the back without asking for permission to enter and stalked up to Kaoru without introducing himself. He came to a parade rest before her. "Kaoru Kamiya, I presume?"  
  
"It's polite to give your name first before asking that of another." Kaoru said benignly in that 'didn't your mother teach you anything?' tone. She didn't look up from her laundry.  
  
"I need not give my name to a suspect." he spat, and so he became Officer Stick-up-his-ass.  
  
"I am a suspect?" Kaoru asked curiously. "Whatever for?"  
  
"I need not reveal that information."  
  
She shrugged. "Then I don't need to tell you whether I am Kamiya Kaoru or not." Really, it was want for common manners that was killing this country, not the corruption in the government.  
  
Officer Stick-up-his-ass whipped out a note and consulted it. "You match the description we have. A woman in men's clothing with long black hair and a facial scar."  
  
"Is that all?'" Kaoru asked, cocking her head. "How to you know it's me then? How many black haired women are there is Tokyo? I'm in these clothes because, obviously I am doing chores."  
  
"You have a facial scar." Officer Stick-up-his-ass pointed at the x carved into her cheek.  
  
"So I do." Kaoru touched her cheek as if the scar had suddenly sprung to life. "We could avoid all this if you would introduce yourself." and she could mentally catalogue him as someone without a name that made her struggle to keep a straight face.  
  
"Fukitaka." he growled. "You will refer to me as Officer Fujitaka, now are you or are you not Kaoru Kamiya?"  
  
"I am an innocent woman." Kaoru said and wrung the water out of her back gi. "I am also Kamiya Kaoru, I don't suppose you know of a decent second hand clothing store in the area?" she asked, eyeing the spot on the gi where the fabric was dissolving around the seam.  
  
Officer Fujitaka (who still had something if not a stick up his ass) snapped to attention. "Kaoru Kamiya, you are under arrest! You are to accompany me to the..."  
  
"Oh this won't do at all!" Kaoru mourned as she picked at a patch coming off of her hakama. "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"  
  
Officer Fujitaka turned an unhealthy shade of purple, turned on his heel and marched out of the yard.  
  
"Wait!" Kaoru called after him. "You didn't say whether or not you knew of a good second hand clothing store!" when she got no answer she sat back on her heels and humphed. "Mou! Police have no manners anymore!"  
  
He returned several hours later with several more police, which included among their number Police Chief Uramura and Hajime Saitou. Kaoru's clothes had dried and she was affixing yet another black patch to the sleeve of her gi.  
  
"Hello, Officer Fujitaka!" she said warmly to the officer she'd previously harassed. "Aren't you going to introduce your friends?"  
  
Officer Fujitaka ground his teeth and indicated the officers one after another. "Please recognize Officer Kinomoto, Officer Sawa, Officer Goro, and Police Chief Uramura." each bowed stiffly in turn even Saito.  
  
Kaoru watched him carefully... but to her eye he hadn't changed at all. That was a comfort, after seeing Sano's drastic shift in character. But then again, Saitou was one of those immutable forces of nature, the Shogunate could have won the Bakumatsu and he'd still be the same lanky, Gatotsu welding agent of Aku Soku Zan.  
  
Hmmm, they'd called in the Wolf himself. They must consider her a real threat, but to what?  
  
"How can I help you, good sirs?" she asked sunnily.  
  
"It would please me if you would answer a few questions about last night." Chief Uramura said politely.  
  
Kaoru patted the floor beside her. "Please sit, I'll answer any questions you have to the best of my ability." she smiled winningly at Officer Fujitaka as if to say 'now this isn't so hard, is it?'  
  
Chief Uramura took a seat beside Kaoru but the police officers with him ringed themselves around her, except for Saito who stayed back leaned against a roof support and lit a cigarette.  
  
"It is partially about the disturbance last night. The men you apprehended breaking into your home have some... horrific tales about you."  
  
Kaoru's eyes widened. "I should say not, what is the problem?"  
  
"Well, we have been having some ... problems recently and the accounts given to us by these men made us believe we had a lead."  
  
Oh, that's right... Kurogasa would be leaving something of a blood trail through the local government officials at the moment.  
  
"Do you still believe that?" Kaoru prodded.  
  
Chief Uramura made an almost imperceptible glance at Saitou who gave an equally covert shake of his head. "Apparently not, I still have some questions for you but they can wait until you have rested from your journey. That was the important matter." he stood and bowed. "thank you for your time and patience."  
  
Kaoru returned the bow with a nod. "Anytime. Wait!" she said when the Chief turned to go. "I asked Officer Fujitaka a question earlier, but he must not have heard me."  
  
chief Uramura raised an eyebrow and Saitou straightened up a little to listen. "And that would be..."  
  
"A second hand clothing store in the area?" Kaoru pressed. "I've been out of Tokyo for a long while and everything I remember seems to have changed."  
  
The Chief of Police developed a rather large sweat drop but shook his head. "I'm afraid not."  
  
"A pity." Kaoru sighed.  
  
"There is an establishment two blocks from here to the north, on Flower Street." Saitou said gruffly. "There are clothes to be had there for reasonable prices."  
  
"I am much obliged, Goro-san." She bowed. "I'm am sorry to have caused you all trouble."  
  
The officers bowed themselves out of the yard and Kaoru put down her mending and retrieved her wallet from her bedroom.  
  
Unless she'd missed her guess, Saitou had asked for a meeting in the clothing store on Flower Street.  
  
***  
  
He was standing underneath the red awning of the store when she arrived, predictably with a cigarette lit and dangling in his gloved fingers.  
  
"Hajime Saitou." he introduced himself as she approached.  
  
"Kaoru Kamiya." Kaoru replied. "Thank you for pointing out this place to me!"  
  
He shook his head. "It was nothing." his eye drifted down to the bokken on her belt. "Is there a blade in that?"  
  
Kaoru laid a hand on the hilt and rested her arm along the cool length of the wood. "No, it is a simple bokken. I have no need for a killing edge, do you not know the Creed of the Kamiya Kasshin?"  
  
"It was the reason I asked you here." Saitou admitted, taking a drag on his cigarette. "One of the men apprehended last night was the one who has been roaming the streets at night killing under the name Battousai. What do you know of him?"  
  
Kaoru surveyed the clothing shown in the window of the shop. "Hmmm, Gohei Hiruma is his name and other than the fact that he was a student at our Dojo eleven years ago I cannot tell you more than that."  
  
"Think you that he might be the real Battousai?" the police officer pressed.  
  
"You and I both know he isn't." Kaoru murmured, fingering her scar. "You know it because the Kasshin style isn't an offensive sword style and Battousai was an assassin. The two do not add up."  
  
"True." he allowed. "I knew the last master of the Kasshin style, we were good friends... even if I was the better of us."  
  
Kaoru smiled. "Some are meant to teach and some are meant to practice. Tell me, how good are you at teaching?"  
  
Saitou chuckled mirthlessly. "I'll let that go." he told her. "Koinosuke often told me of his wandering daughter, would that be you?"  
  
"It seems that way." Kaoru agreed. "but I never wandered, I always knew exactly where I was going."  
  
"That leads me to my next question." Saitou exhaled a lungful of smoke. "I have heard unsettling stories of a dark haired woman who doesn't kill but doesn't need to. She has a facial scar much like yours, some people say she has the knowledge of Buddha."  
  
"An amazing woman." Kaoru said. "Who is she?"  
  
"I would believe that woman is you, and I'd like to know why you've settled down here and now. Your father passed away two years ago."  
  
"It was time." Kaoru told him. "To all things there is a time and a place. For my arrival home the time was now and the place was here."  
  
"Can I be expecting any trouble from you?" Saitou asked, taking another drag off his cigarette then dropping it to the ground and grinding it underneath his heel.  
  
"Not from me, no." Kaoru demurred. "But, as you say, I seem to have acquired something of a reputation in the underworld. There are those who might wish to exploit that, we shall see."  
  
"We will." Saitou agreed. "If you look in the very back there's a rack of clothes that are discounted because of a few rips and tears. The cloth is usually durable but for that." and he left.  
  
Kaoru went into the store and bought new clothes.  
  
***  
  
Enishi and Yahiko returned with the dusk to grilled fish and Kaoru in a new black gi and blue hakama.  
  
*******  
End Chapter Three  
*******  
  
Seiyuu; I have a horrible, horrible Compaq keyboard. So if occasionally a letter vanishes, please bear with it. I can't catch all of them.  
  
I'm on the prowl for a good beta reader, anyone interested? 


	5. Chapter lV Torrent Spectres

******  
Chapter Four; Torrent Specters  
******  
  
I am the daughter of Earth and Water,  
and the nursling of the Sky;  
I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;  
I change, but I cannot die.  
For after the rain when with never a stain  
The pavilion of Heaven is bare,  
And the wind and sunbeams with their convex gleams  
Build up the blue domes of air,  
I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,  
And out of the caverns of rain,  
Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb,  
I arise and unbuild it again.  
-P.B. Shelley. 

******

The rain had been pouring for three consecutive days and Enishi hadn't spoken to anyone since it started. Kaoru had an idea that his silence was related to the distinct lack of student placards hung on the walls of the practice hall.  
  
Tonight she was cutting up a watermelon in an attempt to cheer herself and everyone in the dojo up, she'd been able to let it sit in the cool gushing rain and now it was nicely killed.  
  
Kaoru herself was sitting on the boardwalks watching the rain fall on the small pond garden that her father had installed during the week before Kaoru was born. She was leaned against one of the beams supporting the roof overhang that sheltered her from the rain, her bokken was leaned against her shoulder... it was a pose she'd seen Kenshin in a thousand times and though she desperately didn't want to think she was turning into him, taking the position made her feel a little closer; like she and the Kenshin she knew weren't separated by the gulf of time and space.  
  
Tens years and she was still as head over heels as she was when she'd been seventeen. That was the ultimate irony. In a bad Kabuki play the Buddha would come down from the sky and suddenly there he would be; sweet, kind, and clueless as ever and there wouldn't be a single consequence of his presence that she would have to deal with. It would be enough that they were both good, true people in love and the cosmos would re-order itself so they could be together.  
  
Yeah right.  
  
Kaoru sighed and propped her kin up on her knee. The alternative was to be in oblivion with Kenshin in the living world driving himself mad because he had failed to be the ultimate protector.  
  
Life wasn't fair and damned if death wasn't worse.  
  
'You just can't win.' Kaoru thought. 'Not the way you want to, anyway.' she traced the x-shaped scar on her cheek with her fingertips. Here was the brand of her profession, only one other person in the world carried a similar mark and he was probably harvesting his daikon radish crop at the moment.  
  
"You look like you have a lot on your mind."  
  
Kaoru looked over at Enishi who was sitting down beside her.  
  
"You might say that." Kaoru gazed out into the misty depths of the rain; if she concentrated she could see the outline of the house next door. She shuddered.  
  
She remembered a day like this nine years ago; it was a bad day to remember. It was bad day to experience; ghosts walked the streets on days like this and they weren't always the ghosts of the dead.

"Would talking help?" Enishi offered, he was unaffected by the rain today. He had no rainy day ghosts to speak of.  
  
"No." Kaoru said. "Talking would make it seem... too, too real."  
  
But it was already too real. She shoved the ghosts away from her and stood up. "I'll go cut up that watermelon, suddenly it seems like a good idea."  
  
Enishi opened his mouth to agree but the clanging of the gate bell interrupted them both.  
  
"Who could be visiting on a god awful day like this?" Enishi wondered out loud and got up to see. "Even the salesmen are inside."  
  
Kaoru shrugged and followed Enishi to the door, making a short detour to get an umbrella from the stand in the genkan.  
  
The parasol with a cheerful red but the dull grayness of the rain turned it maroon. Enishi walked a little too close to her than the cramped shelter required, but she said nothing.  
  
The bell clanged again as Enishi pushed open the smaller door beside the main gate. A child, roughly eight or nine judging by height alone, stood huddled under the meager shelter offered by the decorative roof on the gate. The child was wrapped up in a thick gray woolen made dark and heavy by accumulated water. Under the bottom edges of the woolen, Kaoru could see shiny black geta and a festive yellow kimono.  
  
"You poor thing." Enishi said sympathetically to the girl-child. "Did you get caught in the rain? You can come in the dojo until it stops..." he cast a furtive eye at the sky. "_If _it stops."  
  
A pale, cold looking hand emerged from the depths of the gray woolen and pushed the folds away, revealing a heart shaped face framed to damp blue-black hair. A pair of stunning cobalt eyes glared out of that face at Kaoru.  
  
"I'm here and I'm not going back." the girl informed Kaoru. "You can like it or lump it."  
  
Kaoru stepped forward and wrapped the woolen a bit tighter around the girl, careful not to obscure that angry little face. "You got my last message didn't you?"  
  
"I did, and I don't care." she huffed. "You can't just leave me up in that stuffy old Monastery and dance around Japan having a good old time without me."  
  
"The monks will be worried by now." Kaoru continued. "They've guarded you all your life, don't they deserve a little consideration? I would have let you come if you'd asked, you've never asked."  
  
The pale cheeks turned ruddy. "You can't guilt trip me into going back! I talked to the abbot, and he let me come." she snorted. "They said they'd keep my room open for me for when you brought me back home."  
  
"Kaori, I won't ever make you do something you don't want to, but consider first the wisdom of your actions." Kaoru said earnestly to the young girl. "Consider who I am, what I can do. I am a dangerous person to be close to, the monks could protect you from anyone who wanted to get at me through you."  
  
Kaori's kin began to tremble. "Y-you just don't want me, that's what it is." she heaved a shuddering breath. "You didn't want me in the first place so you left me at the monastery!"  
  
Kaoru's eyes widened and she fell to her knees before the girl. "No!" she whispered and pulled the soaked child into her arms and rocked her against her chest. "Never that, never believe that!"  
  
"Um..." Enishi paused, helpless. "Would you mind telling me what's going on?" the two females kneeling in the mud at his feet blinked up at him with identical expressions of curiosity. "Who is she?" he asked, pointing at Kaori.  
  
Kaori sniffed and looked at Kaoru tragically. "They don't know about me?"  
  
Kaoru got to her feet and pulled Kaori to her side. "Let's go inside and dry off before we get sick," she said sensibly. "Then I'll make tea and we'll trade introductions."  
  
"Can I stay with you?" Kaori didn't let the subject go, even when she was pressed between Enishi and Kaoru underneath the parasol.  
  
"That's not for me to decide." Kaoru said quietly and looked at Enishi. "My father left this Dojo to Yukishiro-san, it for him to decide who stays and who goes."  
  
"You're the blood relative." Enishi shook his head. "It's your dojo, I'm just the resident teacher."  
  
Kaoru pursed her lips but led the way inside the house, in the genkan she divested Kaori of the woolen wrap and made her peel off her soaked tabi. "You go into the middle bedroom on the left, that's mine, and change into dry clothes. I don't want that cough you had last winter to come back."  
  
"You know about that?" Kaori asked, bewildered.  
  
Kaoru smiled enigmatically. "Yes." she gave Kaori a firm push on the rear to get the child going. "Change, now!"  
  
To Enishi she made a nod at the kitchen. "I'll explain about Kaori while she changes and the tea brews," she said.  
  
Enishi followed her quietly and waited for her to fix the tea. Kaoru boiled water and tossed some loose green tea into the kettle to steep.  
  
"Kaori's my daughter," she said as she watched the tea water turn brown. "I had her in a monastery nearly ten years ago. When I was recovered from my delivery, I stayed there for a while until Kaori was old enough to get along without me always with her. While I was with the monks I studied swordsmanship, many of the techniques I use today I developed there under the supervision of the monks. They took care of Kaori for me, raised her, and educated her. I visited her whenever I could... she's always so glad to see me and wanted to know when I'd start taking her with me. I couldn't bring her to half the cut-throat places I've been in my travels, it was best for her."  
  
"Why didn't you settle down when she was born?" Enishi wanted to know.  
  
Kaoru's hand shook as she transferred tea into tall ceramic glasses. "Believe me or don't, Enishi but I don't travel because I want to. I wanted so very badly to make a real home for Kaori, where I could be there and watch her become the amazing little girl she is now... but I didn't have that option."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Kaoru didn't look him in the eye. "There are some things best left unsaid. It is up to you whether or not can stay."  
  
Enishi pursed his lips. "Do you want her here?"  
  
"I won't lie, I'd feel best if I knew she was somewhere where she was safe... and the Dojo might not stay that." Kaoru sighed and set the teacups on a round serving tray. "But the mother in me wants to be able have her where I can see her, talk to her, and take a hand in making her the woman she will grow up to be."  
  
"What happened last week was hardly a common occurrence," Enishi told her. "I think it would be more than safe for Kaori here and she obviously wants to be with you." his voice was a little strained. "What about her father?"  
  
Kaoru froze. "If I ever meet her father again I just might forget that my sword style isn't about killing." she stood and kicked the shoji open, causing Kaori lose her balance and fall inside the kitchen.  
  
She didn't seem embarrassed but rolled over onto her back and grinned up at her mother who was shaking her head. "I can stay!"  
  
"Yes." Kaoru sighed. "You can stay, you'll write a letter to the Abbot telling him your madness is infective and to send along whatever belongings you left behind."  
  
Kaori leapt to her feet and threw her arms around Kaoru's neck. "Yayyy!!!"  
  
Kaoru tossed a long-suffering look at Enishi who quietly covered up his laughter with a fit of coughing.  
  
***  
  
Yahiko, however, didn't take to their new arrival. In fact it took hardly an hour before familiar shouts of 'Busu!' and 'Tanuki-no-Onna!' filled the dojo always followed swiftly by the sound of a beating.  
  
Kaori, freshly changed into a set of gi and hakama not unlike her mother's (only in yellow and white), could be seen regularly chasing Yahiko around the dojo.  
  
Kaoru could only watch and quietly flinch every time she heard the familiar insults, even if they weren't directed towards her. She knew Yahiko stood less than a chance against Kaori, who had been trained in hand to hand combat since she could walk by monks with absolutely nothing better to do than practice martial arts.  
  
"Wow." Enishi murmured, fresh from watching Kaori throw Yahiko around the practice hall. "I never knew the Runt was such a glutton for punishment."  
  
Kaoru, back in her 'thinking place' place by the garden, nodded. The rain had stopped almost immediately after Kaori had arrived, she chose to take that as a sign. She closed her eyes and basked in the warm sunlight... this was a good place to doze off.  
  
"Kaa-chan!"  
  
Kaoru cracked an eye to look at her daughter, who was walking towards her, dusting off her hands and looking pleased with herself. She sat down by Kaoru and leaned against the same roof support her mother chose to sleep against.  
  
"Yes, Musume?" Kaoru replied, just a shade indulgent.  
  
"My grandfather built this place, didn't he?" Kaori asked.  
  
"No." Kaoru sat up and let her feet dangle over the edge of the boardwalk. "No, it was an ordinary Kendo Dojo fallen on hard times before Ue bought it. He paid it off the year I was born."  
  
"This sword style was important to him?"  
  
Kaoru laughed. "He lived for it, he hated the idea that to be a competent swordsman one must kill others. More often then not the spiritual side of sword work is completely overlooked, not that those who do so ever progress very far."  
  
"That's what the monks say about Jujitsu." Kaori sighed. "I don't really understand what they mean when they tell me to hit with both my body and soul. I just heard Enishi lecturing Yahiko about 'ken ki', and he doesn't get it either."  
  
Kaoru stood up. "Come with me and I'll give you a demonstration."  
  
Kaori jumped up and obediently followed her mother to the open practice ground behind the practice hall. The ground there was cobbled and ever so slightly raised in the center so that water didn't collect in puddles.  
  
There was a line of practice dummies made of sticks and straw set up in a line, the vital target points were marked with splotches of red paint.  
  
Kaoru looked them over and went up to the shabbiest one that looked to be replaced soon. Yahiko stormed out of the practice hall behind them.  
  
"Dammit, Enishi! I'm never gonna understand what the hell you're talking about until you use words I can understand!" he yelled.  
  
Enishi followed him. "It's not that hard a concept!"  
  
"Yahiko!" Kaori called to the angry boy. "Come on over here, Kaa-chan is giving a demonstration!"  
  
Both Yahiko and Enishi perked up and jogged over to were Kaoru was waiting.  
  
"I was going to show Kaori the difference between an attack of the body, an attack of the soul, and an attack of the body and the soul." She looked at the row of dummies. "They need replacing anyway," she said by way of justification. "Please, stand back."  
  
Enishi herded the two youngsters away to a safe distance and Kaoru took a few paces away from her first target and took a Batoujutsu stance.  
  
"The first attack will be an attack of the body. I will do this with only my physical muscles and bokken." Kaoru explained.  
  
None of the spectators dared to breathe as Kaoru tensed and then flickered out of sight. She reappeared behind her target and slid her bokken back into her belt. The dummy remained as it was until Kaoru went up and tapped it.  
  
The was a Pop! sound and the dummy split into several neat pieces.  
  
"That's amazing!" Yahiko cried. "Her sword doesn't even have a blade on it!"  
  
"She must have used the air pressure from her strikes to act as a blade in lieu of a real one." Enishi mused.  
  
Kaori, on the other hand, said nothing but waited for the demonstration to continue. In a way, she was wiser than her two companions but then again she was used to seeing amazing sights. The monks back at the monastery had been capable of some... rather amazing things.  
  
Kaoru went on to the next dummy. "This will be a an attack of the soul, I'll only use my ki to affect this one." She took a breath and centered herself.  
  
Kaori, Enishi, and Yahiko all felt the hairs on the back of their necks rise up as one when Kaoru manifested her ki.  
  
"It feels like an electric storm." Yahiko wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered. "I keep thinking that I'm going to be hit by lightning any moment now."  
  
"Ki manifestations are a reflection of the person." Enishi explained through gritted teeth. "Her father always made me feel like I was standing on a cliff being battered by ocean waves." he didn't tell the children that the feeling hadn't been nearly as strong or bordering on the visual as Kaoru was. He could catch tiny flickers of blue plasma around the outline of her form. What really frightened him was that she didn't really seem to be exerting herself.  
  
Kaoru's eyes snapped open and Enishi assured himself that he didn't see a flicker of lightning deep in her blue eyes as she extended a hand out in front of her and directed it at the dummy before her.  
  
The dummy exploded in a rain of splinters and bits of straw.  
  
Kaori cheered this time. "You're the greatest, Kaa-chan!" she cried, ignoring the dumbfounded looks on Enishi and Yahiko's faces.  
  
Kaoru faced the last dummy and cocked her head. "You know, this just might be over kill," she said to no one in particular.  
  
"Wait, Kaa-chan!" Kaori ran over to her mother. "That's enough... I think I understand." her gaze flicked to an odd shadow in a tree overlooking the Dojo.  
  
"You just might be right, Musume." she followed her daughter's glance. "Come on out, Sanosuke!" she called.  
  
"Yaa!" a certain spiky haired man feel out of the tree, somersaulted in mid-air and landed on the cobblestone practice ground with a curse. "How did you know it was me?" he asked.  
  
Kaoru looked down at Kaori. "I knew it was you by the spiky haired shadow on the ground but I didn't see the harm in letting you watch, but Kaori obviously thinks differently."  
  
"Well, I've seen him shadowing the dojo." Kaori explained. "I noticed him before I came inside this morning, but then someone (glare at Yahiko) started calling me names and I forgot."  
  
The elder Kenshi placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and smiled at Sanosuke. "There's really nothing interesting going on here, Sano."  
  
"It's a matter of time." Sanosuke ran a hand through his unruly hair. "I figured on waiting until another good fight started up and just 'happening by'."  
  
"I thought you said you had a job." Enishi asked suspiciously.  
  
Sanosuke looked the other way. "They don't need me until after dark."  
  
"Hah!" Enishi laughed. "I knew it! You're a Yojimbo at an Okubansho!"  
  
Sanosuke turned red. "It's not like that!"  
  
"A yojimbo?" Kaori turned a little red. "You're a bouncer at a whore-house?" she edged behind her mother.  
  
"So what if I am?" Sanosuke seethed. "It's good pay an' I don't like to see working girls get slapped around. I ain't got anything to be ashamed of!"

"No, it isn't." Kaoru agreed. "That can't be the only reason you were spying on us though."  
  
Sanosuke laughed nervously. "Well, actually... you know that fight I was talking about?"  
  
Kaoru rubbed the spot between her eyes. "Dear Buddha, what have you heard?"  
  
"Well, uh, I got a friend and she's gone missing for a while." Sanosuke paused and scowled. "I think I might know who's got her and he's been recruiting swordsmen like crazy lately. I made a little mistake and roughed up the guys who came to ask me to join him... ya know, before it occurred to me that I had a lead."  
  
"You were waiting for them to come to me and then what? follow them home?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"Pretty much." Sanosuke agreed. "but, ya know, if they saw me around here too much. They might not come."  
  
"Astute of you." Sweet Buddha in heaven, Sanosuke had gotten slightly sneaky!  
  
******  
End chapter Four  
******  
  
Seiyuu; Net time we get to play with Kitsune and Kurogasa! 


	6. Chapter V Illusion of Confidence

******  
Chapter Five; Illusion of Confidence  
******  
  
When I consider the small span of my life  
absorbed in the eternity of all time, or the  
small part of space which I can touch or see  
engulfed by the infinite immensity of spaces  
that I know not and that know me not, I am  
frightened and astonished to see myself here  
instead of there... now instead of then.  
-Blaise Pascal  
  
******  
  
Sanosuke explained his suspicions as Kaori passed out glasses of green tea.  
  
"He's a major power holder in the local bureaucracy. He has a thing for… ah... soiled doves." Sanosuke shrugged. "If they don't want to be bought then he 'borrows' them."  
  
Kaoru nodded. "Why is he hiring swordsmen?"   
  
Sanosuke made a dismissive gesture. "All the big shots are because of that new assassin making the rounds through their offices."  
  
"Right." The female Kenshi accepted a glass of tea from her daughter and took a long, settling draught. She wasn't looking forward to fighting Jin'eh. "I see no one has come to the Dojo yet."

"I know that, I'm just asking for ya to come and get me when they do."  
  
"What makes you think they will come?" Enishi asked skeptically, sipping his own tea.  
  
Sanosuke gave him a dirty look. "You don't know how good this Lady's rep is, once word gets out that she's still in Tokyo just about everyone will be begging her to be on their personal squads."  
  
"I doubt they'd want a woman as a bodyguard." Kaoru started.  
  
"False modesty doesn't behoove you."  
  
Sanosuke leapt to his feet and snarled at the intruder lounging against the doorframe. Kaoru looked over her shoulder and smiled at the man as he lit a cigarette.  
  
"Hello, Saitou." she chirped. "Is there something I can do for you?"  
  
Saitou puffed on his cigarette and exhaled in Sanosuke's face. "I'm here on behalf of the Police Department; but if you really want to make me happy you can get rid of the rooster head."  
  
"Who're you callin' Rooster-head, ya Spider-faced freak!" Sanosuke snarled. "I grew it out! I let one of the girls cut my hair -once- and no one ever let's me forget it!"  
  
"You want me to help you out with Kurogasa." Kaoru intuited, ignoring Sanosuke's outburst.  
  
Saitou looked momentarily discomfited, but he nodded. "The department is willing to make compensation for your time."  
  
"Where, when?"  
  
"Tonight, the mansion on Foreigner's Row."  
  
Kaoru smiled and shut her eyes. "I'll be there, was there anything else?"  
  
"A small matter." Saitou took another puff. "I'd like to enroll my son as a student here."  
  
Sanosuke face vaulted. "You've got a KID!? It was weird enough learning that some poor woman got leg shackled to you but now you've spawned?"  
  
Saitou flicked the ashes off his cigarette angrily. "Leave Tokio out of this." he snarled dropping one hand to the hilt of his katana.  
  
(Author's note; I'm not faking Saitou's reaction, he always gets edgy when someone mentions his wife. Watch the anime when he tells Kenshin he's married, you'll see what I mean!)  
  
Kaoru covered her surprise admirably... although if he and Tokio had had kids that meant they had.... she suppressed a shudder. There were some things she just could imagine Saitou doing, even if they were things everyone did.  
  
"Of course, Enishi would be glad to draw up the papers for you." Kaoru assured him. "I wasn't aware you and Tokio had been blessed with children."   
  
Of course, now that she thought about it, it wasn't so impossible. Saitou never talked about his wife when Kenshin was about, it would be doubtful if he would have -ever- said anything to his number one nemesis about children. This situation, however, was comprised of different people and Saitou would evaluate the information he could let slip differently than he would around Kenshin.  
  
Saitou relaxed slightly. "I have two. Shinnosuke is ten and Sakura is seven. Shinnosuke is more than old enough to start learning to defend himself and he's lately shown an interest in Kenjutsu. Sakura seems to be leaning towards archery."  
  
Kaoru had to smile at that. It seemed the theory was true then, -all- parents loved to talk about their kids. Even cutthroat missionaries of bloody justice.  
  
"Kaori is a student of Jujitsu." Kaoru waved her daughter forward. "Kaori, this is Hajime Saitou. Saitou, this is my daughter Kaori. She too is nine and a half."  
  
Saitou nodded his head to Kaori. "It's a pleasure, Jujitsu is an admirable pursuit. Who is teaching you?"  
  
"The Monks of the Iron Mountain Monastery, I lived there while Okaasan was traveling." she made a sideways glance at her mother. "I may take up Kendo as well."  
  
Enishi stood up and brushed off his trousers. "If you'll come with me, Saitou-san, I'll put your son's name down in our registry." he led the way to the Practice hall where student records were kept.  
  
"I'm going with you!" was the first thing out of three throats as soon as the shoji screen closed behind the two men .  
  
"No." Kaoru said to Yahiko and Kaori. "Yes." she said to Sanosuke.  
  
"Kaa-chan!" Kaori seethed. "I can help."  
  
"You can also get killed." Kaoru replied, touching her scar and trying very hard not to think of all the times she herself had been left behind.

Kaori's mouth shut with a click and she sat back down. Yahiko stared at her and would have made his own bid to go but she drove her elbow into his ribs and gave him such a serious look that he too quieted down.  
  
"If you won't take us, take Enishi." Yahiko groused.  
  
"No, Enishi is going to stay here and guard the Dojo." Kaoru said in a tone that brooked no argument. "It's a long shot, but the enemy always strikes where the defense is weakest."  
  
***  
  
So, Kaoru, Saitou, and Sanosuke left behind them that night two angry ten-year-olds and a furious nineteen-year-old. Kaori stood in the street and watched her mother and the cocky street fighter until they disappeared around a corner.  
  
"Yo, Tanuki-chan!" Yahiko grumbled from inside the courtyard. "Get back inside before you scare everyone on the street with that face of yours."  
  
Kaori was troubled enough hat she only delivered a fist to Yahiko's lungs and settled for knocking the air out of his lungs. He collapsed to his knees and made great choking noises as he tried to get his breath back.  
  
"Kaa-chan was touching her scar." Kaori thought out loud.  
  
"Bu...su..." Yahiko growled.  
  
Kaori took that as 'What are you talking about?'  
"She only does that when she's really, really worried. The monks say that while she was carrying me her hand rarely left her face."  
  
"Maybe she knew what a short-tempered, ugly tomboy she was going to bring into the world." Yahiko sniped and got a fist to the skull from Kaori for his troubles.  
  
"I'm being serious here!" she snarled. "Kaa-chan could be in huge trouble because of this assassin!" she wrapped her arms around herself. "she might even die."  
  
"I don't think that's going to happen." Yahiko said, rubbing the bump on top of his skull. "I've never seen a fighter like Kaoru-san. She amazing, she may just be worried about what she's gonna have to do about him."  
  
"That's part of why I'm worried." Kaori admitted. "I've seen Kaa-chan in serious fights before, when she practiced with the Abbot back at the monastery during visits. You wouldn't believe the lengths she goes to so she will not kill her opponent. I'm afraid that she might not have that option this time."  
  
***  
  
A horse-drawn carriage met the three fighters two blocks away from the dojo. It was small, meant only for two passengers. Sanosuke ended up riding on the roof.  
  
"Why did you insist on bringing that idiot with you?" Saitou asked as the carriage began to move. "Like as not he'll be in your way."  
  
Kaoru leaned back into the leather cushions and tucked her arms into her sleeves. "I think Sano will be a benefit to me, if only because I will have someone I can trust to watch my back." she told the policeman. "Will you not be there?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.  
  
"No, I have another assignment out of town. Chief Uramura only asked me to offer you this freelance job because I mentioned that I would be stopping by your Dojo today to enroll my son as a student there." Saitou replied. "If you don't mind me asking a question, where is Kaori's father?"  
  
Kaoru coughed delicately. "Hopefully in jail somewhere." she replied. "I am not married."  
  
Saitou stiffened slightly and nodded. "Forgive me, I wasn't aware."  
  
Kaoru shook her head. "It doesn't matter, Kaori is my daughter no matter what circumstances brought her into this world."  
  
"There is talk in the Police Department." Saitou said casually. "It has to do with your... scar."  
  
Kaoru blinked. "Beg pardon?"  
  
"There was an Imperialist assassin during the Bakumatsu, one who had a similar scar. He was slight of stature and weight... some conjectured that he might actually have been a she. Those rumors are coming back to life among the police."  
  
The female Kenshi shook her head. "Battousai was most definitely male. If one continues to go by rumors, which are all that's available since the Meiji government doesn't admit to having employed an assassin during the revolution, he also had bright red hair." she cocked her head and gave Saitou a close-eyed smile. "I'll admit that I could have dyed it, but why would I want to pretend to be a man?"  
  
"You dress as one." Saitou pointed out.  
  
"You try fighting in a kimono." Kaoru replied succinctly.  
  
Saitou crossed his arms and peered out of the window. "The chief has been counseled against those rumors by one who is in a position to know whether you are the Battousai or not. I'm telling you this so if certain officers who shall remain nameless attempt to arrest you under those charges you can ignore him. He won't be acting under orders."  
  
"You mean Officer Fujitaka?" Kaoru chuckled. "Is just me or does he..."  
  
"Yes, he does." Saitou snorted (it could have been a chuckle) "It compensates for his lack of a spine."  
  
The carriage slowed to a halt in front of a large Western style mansion. "This would be my stop." Kaoru nodded to Saitou, the carriage was too small to bow. "I wish you luck on your assignment."  
  
Outside of the carriage, Sanosuke leapt to the ground and opened the door for Kaoru. She jumped out and re-arranged her clothes. While she did so, Saitou barked some directions to the Carriage driver and the carriage took off. Kaoru watched it go.  
  
"He never says good-bye." Sanosuke told her. "I've known him ever since I got into the Yojimbo business. a lot of times, as undercover work he hires himself out to some real low-lives who rent permanent rooms in some of the Okubansho." he shook his head. "I've never had to go toe-to-toe with him but he's got a real nasty reputation. You'd think that the corrupt officials who keep trying to bribe him off his police job would put two and two together and steer clear but they just keep on doing it. I guess he's gotten good at covering his tracks."  
  
"He'll have had a lot of practice by now." Kaoru guessed. "Let's go inside and see if we can't turn up your friend. What does she look like?"  
  
"Either little and blonde with an Irish accent or tall with long dark hair and an attitude." Sanosuke muttered looking up at the house towering over them.  
  
Karou's mouth contracted in a frown. "I thought you said -a- friend."  
  
"A friend is somewhere in this compound." Sanosuke agreed. "Just one, I know for certain that there is a woman here who doesn't want to be. Just one. Chances are really good that she's one of the girls I'm looking for. Some of my contacts saw a woman smuggled in here last night but she was wrapped up in a cloak so they couldn't get any identifying marks."  
  
"What if this girl is neither of the girls you are looking for?" Kaoru asked and blinked at the scowl on Sano's face.  
  
"Then he didn't kidnap a whore because I've asked around all the Okubansho in Tokyo and none of them are missing girls, and they wouldn't lie because training up a new girl costs more effort and money then anyone can part with in bribes." he explained. "I know for certain there's someone in there and that knowledge gives me a.. a..." he paused to search for the word. "Responsibility I suppose you could say. Consciences are nasty little whip-crackers."  
  
Kaoru gave a short laugh. "Indeed, I'll stay with the body we're guarding and you look about. We'll want to get her out of here before dark."  
  
"Is that when Spider-face says the bastard's gonna make a stab at it?"  
  
Kaoru winced at Sanosuke's unfortunate word choice. "Yes." she said simply.  
  
The gate guards waved Kaoru through, apparently having been warned of her arrival. One of them laughed at Sanosuke and clapped him on the shoulder. "I can't believe Goro asked you to come, I thought he hated your ass."  
  
Sanosuke smiled tightly. "I ain't pulling punches tonight boys, I'm not here for the assassin. One of my boss's girls might be in there when she doesn't want to be. I'm having a look about and if I happen to come across an assassin... we-e-e-elll." He cracked his knuckles ominously and grinned.  
  
The Guard scowled. "Not again, he's gotten another one?" he shook his head. "don't know how long he'll be able to hush it up, but as long as he sticks to Geisha and Sageju girls..." the guard trailed off pointedly.  
  
(Sageju- a low class call girl, mainly found in the Edo period but the practice carried over into the beginning of the Meiji (I think, if not there was probably a similar practice). Sageju would deliver 'Sageju bento' or lunch boxes to their clients as a pretext for selling sexual favors.)  
  
Sanosuke stifled a growl and crammed his fists into his pockets. Kaoru led him into the mansion, but didn't distract him from his foul temper. She was relatively sure that the blonde girl would be the one here, after all Megumi possessed a talent very appealing to Kanryuu.  
  
"If she isn't here then we'll tear the city apart until we find her." Sanosuke growled after nearly five minutes of silence. In that time they had mounted the stairs and were approaching the Official's office.  
  
"Did you catch what this man's name was?" Kaoru asked Sanosuke. "I didn't think to ask Saitou-san."  
  
"I can't pronounce it, he's Japanese but he changed his name to a western one when the ports opened up. It was Ogami, his first name is Gouka."  
  
Gouka Ogami, or Hellfire Bat. "I can see why he changed it, his parents must have had odd senses of humor." of course, with a family name that meant 'bat' there was only so much one could do.  
  
"And then some." Sanosuke agreed.  
  
They parted ways in front of the great double doors at the top of the stairs. Kaoru waited until Sanosuke had disappeared into the other rooms before letting herself in so that Ogami-san wouldn't protest a suspicious person wandering around his home. The police knew Sanosuke and his line of work, they apparently also knew of Ogami's hobby so there would be no problem from that end.  
  
Swords cleared sheathes as she entered but returned home when she held up her hands in surrender. "The police hired me." she explained to the squat little man sitting in a huge padded chair. He was dressed in western clothing that seemed ill suited to him. He was tubby around the middle. His distinguishing features seemed to be his wide, mobile, and somewhat disgusting mouth and funny hair cut that parted in the middle and was waxed up into two curls on either side of his head (think munch-kin hair).  
  
She walked up to his desk and bowed. "I am Kaoru Kamiya." she suppressed the urge to hurt the little man as his gaze raked her body, easily picking out the feminine curves in her garb. It didn't take an imaginative mind to understand why even a whore wouldn't willingly spend time with this man.  
  
"Male clothing suits women better than I imagined that it would." he leered and patted his knee. "Come over here and have a seat."  
  
Kaoru's eyes grew cold and distant. "I am a bodyguard not a call girl, I will not sit on your knee and flatter you." she cocked her head appraisingly and looked the little man over. "Your knee doesn't look strong enough to hold me up, either way."  
  
That jab elicited some chuckles from the other men in the room. Kaoru made a quick head count... fourteen, sixteen counting herself and Sanosuke. That seemed like an awful lot... but then the stories Sanosuke had told of this night reminded her that the fifteen had been more or less useless, himself included.  
  
Kaoru took up a post beside the window, while the others concentrated their efforts around Ogami. An enterprising pair took up positions on either side of the doors.  
  
'In a way, the prospect of fighting Jin'eh all on my own frightens me more than any of the others.' Kaoru thought. After all, he had been the one to really pound home the knowledge of how very out of Kenshin Himura's league she was.  
  
Jin'eh would enter through the windows, she knew that from reading the newspapers. Of course, even if she hadn't known she might of suspected it. The police would go down easily, too easily for Jin'eh. He'd be bored before he reached the second floor and then he would be in the mood to play.  
  
Kaoru chuckled at her own morbid meanderings and rubbed the bridge of her nose. What would Kenshin think of her now? Predicting the motives of mad men, she really was a long way away from a naive little girl trying to run a dojo all on her own. What new perspectives would age and treachery provide in contrast to those of youth and skill?  
  
She had some nasty tricks up her sleeve, like being able to mask her presence from his 'ken-ki radar' (as Raven called it). A good initial strategy would be to hide and wait for him to arrive and play cat and mouse with the other bodyguards then go for his unguarded flank.  
  
That probably wouldn't be the death stroke but hopefully she could keep him just this shade of off beat for the fight and perhaps land a lucky shot.  
  
Kenshin would have gone in headfirst, after all he was trained to fight face to face. Kaoru on the other hand, had no problems with being sneaky.  
  
"Hey! Hey you with the X on your face."  
  
Kaoru looked up casually. "I have a name." she informed the man who had tried for her attention. He was tall-ish, maybe an inch or two over her. He wore one of those ridiculous get-ups that professional kenshi adopted (Kaoru had resisted the urge, cross-dressing was enough for her) His hair was a burnished blonde and cut short.  
  
"Mine's Michael Crawford." well, at least he had manners. He came forward and extended a hand. Kaoru stared at it, at a total loss. She looked up in confusion.  
  
"Kaoru Kamiya." Her eyes darted to the large sword strapped to his back. He laughed as he followed her eyes movements.  
  
Michael took her hand by the wrist and clasped his own around it. "This is a Western custom." he explained in flawless Japanese as he shook her hand up and down. "It's like bowing here."  
  
"I see." Kaoru said politely. "You'd be doing better to keep your eyes open."  
  
"My eyes are open and they see a real pretty little lady in a place where she shouldn't be." Michael chortled, his green eyes twinkled. "Unless you got a blade hidden in that stick of wood in your belt."  
  
Kaoru glanced at her bokken because it seemed called for and then back at the presumptuous man before her. "How old are you?"  
  
"Seventeen." he replied.  
  
"And do you always judge a fighter by their weapon?" she asked with her eyes on his.  
  
"Weeell now, that depends on the weapon." his hand went over his shoulder to pat the hilt of his own blade. "A weapon can tell me a lot about the Kenshi using it. Take you for instance, you walk like a Kengo but you carry that piddly piece of wood. That smacks of a history to me, you ain't here to kill the assassin."  
  
(Kengo- highly accomplished swordsman)  
  
"Go away, Crawford-san." Kaoru told him. "I'm old enough to be your mother."  
  
"Not unless you got started _real _early." he countered cheekily. "You have heard the rumors about this guy, haven't you?"  
  
"The policeman who hired me told me what I need to know." Kaoru lied, Saitou hadn't told her anything but he had correctly guessed that she already knew anything he could tell her about Jin'eh Udo and a few things he couldn't.  
  
"Then you know that this fell has apparently slaughtered entire households of folk?" he pressed and sighed at Kaoru's nod. "Can't I say anything to get you to clear out before this gets nasty."  
  
Kaoru looked at him seriously. "Kurogasa employs great speed, how fast can you go with a heavy blade like that?"  
  
Michael grinned. "Faster than you'd think, but it don't matter how fast he is. He's got to get close to me to kill me."  
  
She didn't correct that misconception because Sanosuke chose that moment to stroll into the room, judging by the way he held himself and the tune he was whistling he'd found his girl and she was on her way home.  
  
"Which one was it?" she asked him as he reached the spot where she was holding court with Michael Crawford.  
  
"The little blonde," Sanosuke drawled, but his eyes were on Michael. "Haven't seen you around Tokyo for a while."  
  
Michael laughed. "I've been in Europe on some family business, but Mumsy finally got tired of my fashion sense and kicked me out with a ticket home and the clothes on my back."  
  
Sanosuke laughed. "I see you've met Crawford." he said to Kaoru. "He's an old buddy of mine from back when I was a hired gun."  
  
Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "Really."  
  
Michael clapped a hand on Sanosuke's shoulder. "Sano, help me convince her to go home."  
  
Sanosuke looked at him like he'd spoken French. "Why?"  
  
Michael blinked. "Yo, Sano! Check out her hardware! She's bringing a stick into a live weapons fight!"  
  
Sanosuke shook his head. "I can get rid of him." he offered Kaoru. "Really, he was just raised where women are soft, pretty, and stupid; he can't help his ignorance." to Michael he said. "If she goes, I go. I ain't sticking around for this fight without her back up."  
  
Michael took a few steps back and looked at Sanosuke appreciatively. "Why, Sanosuke Sagara! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were scared!"  
  
"Spitless." was Sanosuke's succinct reply. "You're the one who ain't scared enough."  
  
This was definitely not the Sanosuke she remembered Kaoru thought as she ducked her face behind her hair. Not only did he 'feel' stronger, he'd also learned caution. What exactly had changed in his life to transmute him from a discontent teenager with big fists to... to a ... she wasn't exactly sure what Sanosuke was now, but she knew he was different.  
  
Just then, the large grandfather clock behind Ogami called out the midnight hour.  
  
"Quiet, both of you!" Kaoru snapped. "Get ready, he'll be here now!"  
  
********  
End Chapter Five  
********  
  
Seiyuu- Okay, I thought I'd make it into Megumi's scenes in this chapter but apparently not. I reached my limit before that and actually went a little over. *Sighs* It seems like all I've been doing for the past day is edit, replace chapters, find another error, and edit again. I hope I've got it cleared up by now but it's doubtful.  
Since this chapter is overlong as it is I'll take some time to address some concerns here that you've mentioned in your reviews.  


1. This is not; I repeat NOT an Enishi/Kaoru fic. Please recall that this took place at the end of the Jinchuu arc and relies on the concept that Enishi actually killed Kaoru (actually it doesn't but that gets addressed in later chapters and I'd hate to ruin the surprise!)

  
2. Yes, Kaori is a result of rape. Just to clarify, Kaoru would have been attacked almost immediately after she parted permanent ways with Enishi at her father's Dojo. I won't have Kaoru totally explain Kaori to anyone until way far at the end. It's just something I feel this Kaoru would do, if she went around explaining the nitty gritty details to everyone it would seem like she was trying to excuse her daughter's existence and Kaoru loves Kaori more than anything. Kaoru doesn't know who Kaori's father is but she has several likely candidates (you don't need me to spell that out for you, do you?) Kaori WILL fill out a plot relevant roll in this fic, already she is the reason that Kaoru stayed with the Iron Mountain Monks who helped her became as totally kick-ass as she is today.  


3.Some characters (namely Saitou) may seem OOC (out of character) but please recall that in dealing with Kaoru they would react differently to her than they would have with Kenshin. Saitou for example, he doesn't have an illustrious history with Kaoru as his #1 rival so he can relax slightly with her, even decide that she would be a good mentor for his son to learn from. You can bet any amount of money that he wouldn't have done that while Kenshin was around to remind him of the skeletons in his closet. With Kaoru however he can allow himself to be a bit more 'Fujita Goro' than the 'Mibu Okami' (I think that's right)

4. I didn't think that I would have to explain the whereabouts of Kaoru's scar, that you guys would notice it yourselves but now that I look back I smack myself and think 'Oh jeez, DD! Do you expect them to read your mind?' but that too I will leave for a later chapter, it will be something of a shock to the other characters though.  


5. And also, I won't be bothering with Kenshin for a while yet; he's safely in the sticks with Tomoe at the moment. I can have him write Enishi letter just so you know he's alive… in fact… yeah, what a good idea! I can work with that...  
and, dear readers if at any point you think I am just being too cruel and weird to my characters please know this. I ordered muses but they sent me maenads instead. (5 points to anyone who gets the Greek mythology reference!) 


	7. Chapter Vl First Blood

******  
Chapter Six; First Blood  
******  
  
Between the acting of a dreadful thing  
And the first motion, all the interim is  
Like a phantasma or a hideous dream:  
The Genius and the mortal instruments  
Are then in council; and the state of man,  
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then  
The nature of an insurrection.  
-- _Julius Caesar_.

******

The screams started, and by the orientation of the sound Kaoru knew that Jin'eh had started at the gates and was working his way in.

That meant the kind guard at the gate was dead now.  
  
Kaoru gripped her bokken, which she had pulled out her belt as soon as the clock sounded midnight. Michael and Sanosuke went to face the door but Kaoru melted into the shadows and concentrated of making her ki blend in with the natural emanations of the world around her.  
  
The screams got closer and Kaoru seethed to go running towards the source... but those deaths were marked for today. Raven had made sure she understood.  
  
'I understand but that doesn't mean I'll be able to sleep easy tonight for the next five nights for that matter.' Kaoru waited for Jin'eh to make his appearance. All she could do now was make sure the police officers did not give their lives in vain.  
  
There was a gunshot and another scream, this time accompanied by the dull thump of a body hitting the ground.  
  
"1000 ryo and a government position to the man who kills the assassin!" Ogami squealed.  
  
The bodyguards, all shiftless Ronin and disfranchised samurai grew energetic at this proclamation. Kaoru could have groaned, just inspire them to go throw their lives away why don't you!  
  
Silence gripped the room... everyone waited for the assassin to burst open the doors and--.

The windows eased open beside Kaoru, if she hadn't expected it she might have jumped. As it was she got a good view of Jin'eh in the profile as he gently landed on the windowpane and watched the mass of swordsmen watch the door in wait for him.  
  
His eyes darted all over and his lips moved silently as he counted... thirteen... fourteen... fifteen...  
  
His first words startled all the kenshi in the room, making them spin about and make the foolish mistake of looking Jin'eh in the eyes. Kaoru didn't pay attention to his words so much as watch him.  
  
-This- was the insane monster that had forced Kenshin out of Rurouni and into Battousai for the first time?  
  
Jin'eh casually slaughtered the first rush of men to try their swords against him and hopped down onto the ground. He held up his blade and beckoned to the rest... Kaoru was close enough to breathe down his neck; she could see the tallow clouds in the steel of his katana and the pink maiden's blush of the blade.  
  
He had to have been slaughtering people non-stop since the beginning of the Bakumatsu to have -that- much blood soak into the steel!  
  
Sound returned to Kaoru as she released her hold on her ki. Jin'eh had his hand out, beckoning to his prey to attack him even though none of them could move at all. He turned just barely in time to parry Kaoru's rush. The force of her blow knocked him halfway across the room but her rolled with it and sprang to his feet.  
  
"Oh-ho!" he jeered. "Did you escape my shin-no-ipo?"  
  
His pupils widened and contracted, something flashed in the dead white pupils of his black eyes and Kaoru felt strands of spider silk tighten around her. It was pure instinct to shake them off.  
  
Apparently, this bothered Jin'eh. "What the?" he started, but Kaoru pressed her attack to quickly for him to finish.  
  
"How... did you?" he managed between clashes of sword and wood. Their blades met and the crash of colliding ki knocked both combatants back.  
  
"How are you resisting my shin-no-ipo?" Jin'eh demanded. "Even the strongest fighters at least have to make a physical effort!"  
  
Kaoru switched stances and rushed Jin'eh again. She wasn't about to waste her advantage on Jin'eh by yapping at him. Jin'eh's footing was weak and he tripped backwards, Kaoru's aided his fall with a kick behind the knees.  
  
Jin'eh snarled and pitched himself forward; he used his bodyweight to do a handspring back to his feet. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded.  
  
Kaoru's eyes registered a flicker of olive drab behind Jin'eh and Sanosuke burst into action with a flurry of alternating punches and kicks that even Kaoru couldn't see. Almost all of them landed too, Jin'eh only saved himself by throwing his body back out of Sanosuke's reach.  
  
Unfortunately, the assassin didn't realize that this put him right back in Kaoru's. With his back facing her and his attention centered on Sanosuke, it was pure simplicity to deliver her signature nerve tap and put him out. (The day the Iron monks taught her that move was a good day)  
  
"Nice foot work." she complimented Sanosuke, who was rolling his head around on his shoulders.  
  
"Nice sneaky-tactics." he grinned. "Do you have any idea what he was trying to do with the freaky-eye thing?"  
  
Kaoru nodded to the remaining kenshi surrounding Ogami, who were just now shaking off their paralysis. "I think it was a ken-ki technique." she looked down at Jin'eh's prone form. "I don't think he's ever used it on anyone who's developed their ki as thoroughly as we have."  
  
Sanosuke nodded. "Now that you mention it, I did feel something weird but it snapped if I so much as took a deep breath." he looked at Jin'eh too. "You might as well have broken his neck," he told her. "He'll get unofficial execution if the police manage to hold onto him long enough. With Saitou out of town, I don't know how long they'll manage."  
  
Kaoru shook her head. "It's not for me to judge, Sano." she sighed. "I'm strong, but that doesn't give me to right to decide whether or not to snuff out a life, however misused it's still a precious thing." She snapped her fingers and looked to Ogami. "He promised a thousand ryo for whoever..."  
  
"Killed the assassin. You didn't kill him." Sanosuke pointed out.  
  
Ogami was already trundling over to her. "500!" he stated, wasting no time. "You didn't kill him."  
  
Kaoru laughed. "I've got a room full of witnesses saying you promised a 1000 along with a government post, but I'll settle for just the 1000."  
  
Ogami looked around to the remaining Kenshi and blanched. "Agreed." he said quickly. "I do need a permanent..."  
  
"Not a chance." Kaoru stated. "Do you have the money now or do I come to collect?"  
  
***  
  
Kaoru and Sanosuke left the mansion as dawn broke, both weighed down by 500 ryo and worries.  
  
"Didn't that seem a little..."  
  
"Easy?"  
  
Kaoru and Sanosuke exchanged glances. "It was too easy." Kaoru agreed and shook her head. "I don't know."  
  
"We might not have seen the last of him." Sanosuke advised her. "I mean, the police can strip him of every weapon but he's still got those eyes."  
  
"Eyes that can paralyze a normal person." she shivered. "Still, we both have 500 ryo, I don't know about you but I don't even see 10 ryo in a year."  
  
"The Kogane doesn't see even 30 ryo a year, it's a good years if I see 5." Sanosuke agreed. "We're both set up for a good long time. I feel bought off, what about you?"  
  
(The Kogane is the brothel that Sanosuke is the yojimbo for)  
  
Kaoru chuckled. "I see some long overdue repairs for the dojo and maybe new equipment. We'll be able to live off this for a good long time. Even without any students."  
  
"You've got a student." Sanosuke protested. "Saitou just signed his kid up, don't you know what that means?"  
  
Kaoru shook her head. "No."  
  
"The entire police department will follow his example!"  
  
Kaoru frowned. "Now many of them will have children, even less will have children of training age, and even less of them will have children so inclined that aren't already enrolled in a reputable dojo."  
  
Sanosuke pouted. "Why do you have to be reasonable? I was just trying to cheer you up."  
  
Kaoru hefted her coin purse. "I just got paid 500 ryo for light duty, what's not to be cheerful about?"  
  
***  
  
Kaoru didn't tell anyone about the 500 ryo, but she quietly put it in the family strongbox as soon as she got home. Sanosuke took his to his apartment and hid it underneath a floorboard. He did, however, liberate one or two to treat everyone in the Kamiya dojo to a dinner at the Akabeko.  
  
That went over very well.  
  
"Try this one, Kaa-chan!"  
  
Kaoru found an appetizing piece of meat stuck in her face, she seized with her own chopsticks and took a small bite out of it. She smiled. "That's good, Musume. What is it?"  
  
"I think it's some of the roasted pork but I can't be sure." the ten-year-old girl giggled. "Cooked meat is pretty hard to tell apart."  
  
Kaoru savored the taste in her mouth. It had the oily tang of pork and it had been cooked in a sweet red sauce. "I think you're right!" she lifted a shrimp from one of the plates. "your turn!"  
  
Kaori bit the shrimp right off her mother's chopsticks and grinned. "Sake shrimp... hey look, steamed mizuna!"   
  
Sanosuke shot Kaoru an amused glance and nodded towards Enishi and Yahiko who were bickering over the last of the sukiyaki.  
  
"Boys, try some of the other dishes!" she laughed and they both blushed.  
  
"Hey, Busu you shouldn't eat so much!" Yahiko chuckled nastily and poked at Kaori's sides. "You don't want to get fat and slow, do you?"  
  
Kaori, who must have been in a seriously good mood, only smiled at the boy. "Oh I don't have to worry, I'll work it right off with my morning exercises! I never gain a pound." she gave Yahiko a look that said 'unlike some people I could mention' and he turned red and concentrated on wolfing down his rice.  
  
The shoji slid open and a young girl, about Kaori and Yahiko's age knelt down to pass out a tray of tea, Yahiko began to choke on his rice when he saw her. Kaori helpfully pounded him on the back (if a little harder than necessary)  
  
"Hello, Tsubame." Kaoru greeted the timid young girl who smiled shyly back.  
  
"Hello Kamiya-san." her gaze darted to Yahiko, who turned pink and looked the other way. "Hello Yahiko-chan."  
  
"Don't call me Chan!" came the obligatory cry.  
  
Kaori's eyes took on a predatory glint and she leaned close to the serving girl. "Does he really hate that?" she asked.  
  
Tsubame blushed. "I keep forgetting not to call him that... who are you?"  
  
Kaori grinned. "Kamiya Kaori, that's my Kaa-chan." she nodded to Kaoru.  
  
"Oh!" Tsubame smiled back at Kaori, as if her relation to Kaoru made Kaori an acceptable person to be around now. "I'm Tsubame, it's nice to meet you. I haven't seen you here before, Yukishiro-sama brought your Okaa-sama to the Akabeko soon after she arrived in Tokyo, but I didn't see you there then."  
  
The other girl waved a dismissive hand. "I wasn't there yet, I was still on my way to Tokyo no doubt."  
  
The cook called for Tsubame and the girl bowed out, making her excuses but Kaoru sensed they'd be getting a visit from the shy youngster the next time she had a half-day off.  
  
"She's nice." Kaori pronounced her verdict with glee. Her eyes sparkled at the prospect of having another girl her age to giggle with. "I like her!"  
  
"It's hard not to like Tsubame." Enishi agreed and stole the last of the Sukiyaki while Yahiko was glowering at Kaori, who was oblivious to him.  
  
Kaoru hid her smile in her rice bowl. The scene was chaos cubed, but she felt oddly relaxed... was this how Kenshin felt every time she and Yahiko squabbled? Now that she thought about it, he always seemed to be smiling most around then.  
  
"Kaa-chan?" Kaori poked her in the side. "Is there anymore of that sake shrimp?"  
  
Sanosuke was wolfing down said shrimp at an astonishing rate. Kaoru transferred three of the coveted shrimp into her daughter's bowl before they fell prey to Sanosuke's appetite.  
  
"You're pretty good with that bokken." Sanosuke commented around bites of shrimp. "I didn't see so much as a nick on it after we got through with Jin'eh."  
  
Kaoru shrugged. "Well, after a point it doesn't really matter what you use for a weapon. Once a Kenshi reaches a certain stage he or she stops using the actual edge of the sword. It's much the same for hand to hand combat."  
  
"Ain't that the truth." Sanosuke laughed. "Anji, the fallen monk who taught me most of what I know could so some pretty freaky stuff without even using his hands!"  
  
Kaoru cocked an eyebrow; that was some pertinent information. Sanosuke had already met Anji in this timeline!  
  
"Kao-chan?"  
  
Kaoru blinked when Tae reached into the door and tugged on her sleeve.  
  
"Can I speak to you for a moment?" she asked, with an odd twinge to her voice. "Out here?"  
  
After a few placatory words to her companions, Kaoru followed Tae outside of the building. The businesswomen quickly pointed to a woman with long dark hair making her way through the crowd, trying to run in an overly elaborate robe. Two men were running behind her.  
  
"I see." Kaoru muttered.  
  
"I saw them this morning," Tae said hurriedly, "but I couldn't get anyone to go. The boy delivering rice mentioned them just now."  
  
The sun hit the woman's hair and picked out green highlights. No doubt about it. Kaoru slipped into the crush and inserted herself directly in the fleeing woman's path. Seconds later Megumi slammed into her and they both went down in a flurry of silk, cotton, and perfume.  
  
"Oh no... forgive me..." Megumi panted trying to push herself up, but her obi was caught on the grip of Kaoru's bokken.  
  
"Here... hold still!" Kaoru instructed and slipped the doctor free. She didn't release her grip of the other woman's arms, instead she helped her up and patted some of the road duct off her.  
  
Megumi looked at her cannily. "You're a kenshi?" she purred.  
  
Kaoru reacted and laughed, albeit a little Kenshin-esque with her hand behind her head (all the better to emphasis her bokken. "I've been accused of that." she admitted.  
  
Megumi turned on the tears... wait, had the Kitsune just mistaken her for.. a man? Kaoru choked when Megumi threw herself into her arms and simpered up at her. "You've just GOT to help me! I'm being chased by two awful men!" Megumi begged with a pout that would drive any man to fits of heroism.  
  
The two men, obviously Kanryuu's thugs, huffed up behind her. One of them, a skinny dude in an unfortunate yukata (probably stolen from an inn) stepped up to her and reach for Megumi's arm. "You caught my Wife, thanks a bunch sir."  
  
Kaoru pushed Megumi behind her, a tiny stress twitch developed in an eyebrow. Were these idiots blind? It wasn't like she was binding her chest or making an actually effort to look like a man. That tick turned into a blush as Megumi pressed her.. ah... charms into Kaoru's back.  
  
"I... I don't think she wants to go with you." Kaoru stammered, trying to keep her mind on the fight. This was getting freaky.  
  
The skinny one laughed nastily and tapped his skull. "There's no telling who she thinks I am right now, she gets lost sometimes. Can't tell which way is up." He reached out Megumi. "come on sweetheart, don't make such a ... F***!!!"  
  
Kaoru had caught the offending hand as it passed her shoulder and dug her thumb into the hollow of the man's wrist. He jerked it back and staggered into his friend, who caught him by the shoulders. "You bastard!" he howled. "My entire arm's f****ing numb!"  
  
"If you're going to call me names." Kaoru snarled, pulling out the bokken. This wasn't about Megumi anymore! "At least get it right! I am not a bastard..." smack! smack! and the men were sprawled on the ground. "... I'm a bitch!"  
  
There was an intake of breath behind her and Kaoru turned around to see Megumi staring at her with her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes glowing like stars. Kaoru scratched the back of her head as she put her bokken back into her belt... Megumi flounced up close and glomped Kaoru's arm. "That was absoluuuutly amazing!" she gushed.  
  
"Not ... really..." Kaoru tried. "Hey... I'm a woman! Let go!"  
  
Megumi peered up at Kaoru through her eyelashes and smiled a less flirty smile and a more cunning one, more like the Megitsune Kaoru remembered. "I noticed when we bumped into one another. I'm Megumi Takani, what's your name?"  
  
Kaoru swallowed... hard.  
  
***  
  
"It's good to see you safe and sound, Megitsune!" Sanosuke hailed the Kitsune doctor as Kaoru reluctantly led Megumi (still attached to her arm) into the gathering.  
  
Kaori raised an ebony eyebrow at Megumi's familiarity with her mother and made it a point to introduce herself a s 'Kamiya-san's -daughter-', but Megumi had only smiled, returned the greeting and gone back to flirting with an evermore-panicky Kaoru.  
  
When Enishi introduced himself, Megumi's possessive hold on Kaoru became a death grip as she mutely nodded and tried to squirm into Kaoru's side.  
  
Odd.  
  
Beyond odd actually.  
  
"Where have you been, Kitsune-sensei?" Sanosuke pressed after the introductions were done.  
  
Megumi gave a delicate shudder. "Hopefully somewhere that I won't have to go back to. Not if strange men don't grab me on the street like they did outside." she turned a million watt smile on Kaoru. "but I had Kao-san to save me this time. I didn't have a -thing- to worry about!"  
  
'I realize that I'm replacing Kenshin in this timeline, but the Law can't be so thorough that the people who fall in love with Kenshin fall in love with ME!' she thought. 'Megumi... gay... with a crush on me! Mou, now is the time for an 'Oro' but I have too much self respect to indulge.'  
  
******  
End Chapter Six  
******  
  
Seiyuu; I originally considered making it a Sano + Meg right off the bat, but that wouldn't work with what I'm trying for here. I was a little uncomfortable making Megumi a .. well, flamer... but after a while I realized just how much fun I could have with this! 


	8. Chapter Vll Thou Sick Rose

******

Chapter Seven: Thou Sick Rose.

******

What ravages a spirit 

conjured a temptuous rage. 

Created you a monster,   
broken by the rules of love.   
And fate has led you through it;   
you do what you have to do.   
But I had the sense to recognize   
that I don't know how to let you go  
-Sarah Maclachlan 'Do what you have to do.'  
  
******  
  
"I remember Megumi's clinic being in a better part of town." Kaoru confessed to Raven.  
  
The two women were sitting side by side in a road side tea Shoppe across from the Kogane, an Okubansho in the southern 'red light district' of Tokyo. Raven had her black hair in a non-descript coif and was dressed in a black kimono and obi. She absently fingered a Buddhist rosary with one hand; the beads were made of ivory and carved into cylindrical skulls. Kaoru was in her more normal black gi and blue hakama but today she carried a kasa with her so she could shield her face and identifying marks from public scrutiny.  
  
"So do I." Raven muttered darkly. "I don't like this, there are too many changes to the time line."  
  
Kaoru blinked at her companion. "You said that everything might not turn out -exactly- the same."  
  
"I did." Raven agreed with a scowl at the Kogane. "But my estimated margin of vista-shift was much smaller than this. I was expecting maybe 15% but this has to at least be 45% something is just not right." she massaged her temples. "I went over the variables with a fine tooth comb; did I miss a count?"  
  
"I don't understand a word that just came out of your mouth." Kaoru confessed, much to Raven's embarrassment.  
  
The dark haired woman flushed. "I doubt you would, and I won't enlighten you, it would just give you a migraine and distract you from your job." Raven rubbed her sinuses again. "It gives -me- a migraine and I've been doing it for centuries."  
  
Kaoru patted Raven's shoulder sympathetically and ordered her a green tea. When the tea came, the woman mulled over it for a long time. Kaoru could hear her mutter strange mantras to herself that sounded like mathematical equations and "Could it be? No... there's no way, he wouldn't dare... not after Hakone..."  
  
Raven's Spanish accent was starting to creep back into her voice and that bothered Kaoru; that only happened when the chaff was really about to hit the fan.  
  
A hubbub bubbled up at the front door of the Kogane, Kaoru checked... it was Megumi leaving-- she had a large bundle tied around her shoulders and Sano had a largish trunk hoisted up onto his shoulders.  
  
Sumino Morozumi, the owner and head of the Okubansho, stood to one side looking gruff (and a little saddened) while girls in colorful kimono flitted around Megumi like butterflies alternately hugging her and crying their good-byes. Only Megumi's head and shoulders were visible in the crush of rainbow-clad bodies.  
  
Apparently Megumi had been running a medical clinic for the Okubansho out of the basement of the Kogane, which was how she and Sano had met. Kaoru had to smile, the underground clinic was so completely Megumi. No normal doctor would treat any sort of whore no matter how high ranking for fear that they'd lose their respectable clientele. Of course, everyone came to Megumi in this area because she knew her business, wouldn't run up her prices, and was often willing to do charity work for those who absolutely couldn't pay.  
  
"I'm glad Megumi agreed to move her clinic to the dojo until we got her situation cleared up." Raven said suddenly. "It's another change to the time line... but I'm beginning to suspect that it doesn't matter."  
  
Kaoru blinked and stared at Raven. "What do you mean? I thought we were walking on a wire to try and not trigger a paradox."  
  
Raven pursed her lips. "A paradox would only happen if we were still doing a 'patch' in your time line, before now I was positive that's where we were." she crossed arms and looked pensive. "We may not be anymore, this time line is headed off in it's own direction. I've just checked all the vectors and scanned my vista."  
  
"Is that what all that chanting was?" Kaoru asked and Raven looked annoyed and nodded. "How could that happen? You said we never left my time!"  
  
"Chica! Girl, stop!" Raven stamped a sandal clad foot for emphasis. "I don't know! The only thing I can think of is that either there's an anomaly in my calculations or we were shy-sided."  
  
"We were what?"  
  
"Shy-sided." Raven explained. "It's a nasty old trick in my line of work, when you want to sabotage someone doing a patch on a time line it is possible to simulate the conditions necessary to do one thing and force them to do another." she exhaled slowly.  
  
"In Japanese, please."  
  
Raven snarled. "Someone messed me up when I supposedly transferred your consciousness from 1879 to 1864 and now I don't know where we are!"  
  
"I still don't get..."  
  
"Kao-san! We're ready to go!"  
  
Kaoru started uneasily as she stood to go to Megumi... only to stop and stare as she got a good look at the woman.  
  
"Madre de Dios..." Raven whispered in shock.  
  
Megumi blushed at Kaoru's undisguised amazement and batted her eyelashes. "You like this outfit?"  
  
Kitsune-sensei was wearing what should have been a perfectly decent green kimono with a pretty pink and white mum design on the obi... if a fifteen year old had been wearing it. The hem barely covered her knees and the skirt had been cut so that the slit up the side fell open to display Megumi's long legs. The neckline of the kimono sloped gently open to reveal the top curves of her chest. She wore traveling sandals with tall tabi that reached up to mid-calf and were bound tightly to her legs with green ribbon.  
  
Red flooded Kaoru's cheeks. "Megumi! You're barely wearing any clothes!"  
  
Megumi smiled and took up her customary glomping place on Kaoru's arm; Kaoru let her have it (it wasn't worth the scene it would take to get the doctor to leave her be). "Well, what else would I wear? I was unlucky last time and got caught in something that didn't give me room to move." a shadow flitted through her eyes. "I won't let that happen again."  
  
The red in Kaoru's cheeks lessened to pink as Megumi leaned her cheek against the black cloth covering her shoulder. Megumi's mouth took a grim angle... it was an angle Kaoru knew too well. Eleven years ago she'd seen it on herself every day in the mirror for nine months.  
  
Kaoru let Megumi take what comfort she needed... and hoped it didn't give her ideas.  
  
***  
  
"Wow..." Megumi muttered as she took in her new surroundings. "This is really a wreck."  
  
The bigger storage shed had been cleaned out and commissioned as Megumi's temporary clinic, Megumi wasn't too thrilled about it. The basement at the Kogane had more space.  
  
"... but there's also sunlight here." Megumi thought out loud. "And fresh air, that would be better for binding wounds. It'll do, I suppose."  
  
"At least you won't have to deal with Johns mistaking you for one of the Girls." Sanosuke joked and Megumi smiled weakly.  
  
"Yuck." she shook her head and looked around. "Sano, where did Kao-san get off to?"  
  
Sanosuke looked to the kitchen, sure enough there was smoke rising from the vents. "Well, hopefully it's her cooking in the kitchen. If it's Yuki-chan..." he shuddered expressively.  
  
"Maybe I should help..." Megumi started but Sanosuke shook his head.  
  
"Nah, she likes to have the kitchen to herself." he waved Megumi over. "Have a seat here, I need to talk to you."  
  
Megumi pursed her lips but sat down next to her old friend, who was now one of the few men she could feel comfortable with. "You want to know details."  
  
"Got it in one, I've seen the way you've been flinching away from every guy but me and hanging onto Kaoru like a life raft." he said grimly. "Who needs to die?"  
  
Megumi looked the other way. "Nobody needs to die."  
  
Sanosuke spat out a vile expletive, but Megumi who had heard worse on a daily basis ignored it.  
  
"I'm not stupid, Megitsune, no matter what anybody thinks!" he said in a low, intense voice. "I can put two and two together, tell me who nabbed you and better yet was he the one who..."  
  
"No!" Megumi shook her head hard so her hair whipped back and forth. "Dammit, Sano, I'm trying to protect you here! What you don't know can't hurt you!"  
  
"I ain't the one who needs protecting." Sanosuke cracked his knuckles. "Just because I'm bodyguard at a brothel doesn't mean I ain't kick-ass enough to take on all comers."  
  
"It wouldn't come down to a fight." Megumi spat bitterly. "He's got more power than any one person should have. It wouldn't be you he'd go for if you got his attention. He'd hurt the people around you, poison, assassins, accidents... that's just how he operates! He had -me- arrested for the murder of a little girl they found floating in the river and when they had me the charge just went away!"  
  
Sanosuke massaged his chin. "Hmm, he's either got someone in records at the police department or a commanding officer..."  
  
"No, stop!" Megumi ordered. "Don't try and be a hero, Sano. Heroes die slow, nasty deaths. I'm tired of seeing friends hurt."  
  
Sanosuke leaned over to whisper in Megumi's ear. "Then why are you here?"  
  
She flinched. "I... I..."  
  
"Look." Sanosuke leaned away and shook his head. "If you won't talk to me, talk to Kaoru."  
  
Megumi blinked. "Why?"  
  
"You see that little girl that follows her around?"  
  
"Kaori-chan?" Megumi smiled. "Yes, she looks just like her mother."  
  
Sanosuke turned serious eyes on Megumi. "Let's just say you and Kaoru have something in common."  
  
***  
  
Megumi thought about what Sanosuke had said as she strolled around the Dojo, careful to stay within someone's sight at all times.  
  
Could that lovely little girl of Kao-san's be a product of rape?  
  
"... no, not so small Musume."  
  
Megumi's ear's pricked up as Kao-san's voice reached them, it came from the kitchen.  
  
When she peeked in a window she saw Kao-san bending her dark head over a cutting board in front of dark, little Kaori. She was pointing at pieces of a carrot that had been cubed.  
  
"It won't hurt the dish but it looks a little nicer when you use disks instead." she was saying.  
  
Kaori frowned a cute little frown and Megumi stifled a giggle. With a face like hers and her mother's, Kaori was doomed to be a cute teenager and an elegant woman, although she might go through a gawky stage around her fifteenth year.  
  
Megumi cocked her head and compared the two critically-- Kaori took heavily after her mother. That was probably a good thing, Megumi couldn't imagine herself being able to devote herself heart and soul to a child that had a face akin to one about whom she had nightmares.  
  
A hand drifted down to her own tummy... no baby there. She'd gotten her flows this morning, it was a relief... but still she wondered. If she had carried Kanryuu's spawn would she have been able to love it the way Kao-san obviously loved her own child?  
  
As a doctor in ruffian row, she'd treated dozens of rape victims and she knew that most of the recovery was mental as well as physical. 'That's probably why I see Kanryuu in every man I meet...' she thought glumly. 'Not Sano though, I guess I know him too well to ever see that pig in his face.'  
  
"No, dear! Not so much ginger!"  
  
Megumi covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. When the danger passed, she dropped her hands and leaned against the wood wall so she could continue watching the kenshi woman try and produce an edible meal despite her daughter's inadvertent attempts at sabotage.  
  
Maybe... once this was over, there was a suitable house in the area she could open a new clinic in.  
  
***  
  
"Kiiiyaaahhhhhhhh!"  
  
Sanosuke and Enishi looked up from their dice game as a black streak zipped past them and disappeared into the foliage of one of the trees standing at the corner of the dojo.  
  
"Looks like Megumi's after Kamiya-sensei again." Enishi guessed. The good doctor had only been with them for two days so far and this was already becoming something of a common occurrence.  
  
A few seconds later Megumi strolled by in one of her geisha kimonos. She paused and looked about the courtyard, her garnet gaze sweeping past the gate and the bathhouse and finally settling on the trees. The branches were quivering ever so slightly.  
  
"Have either of you seen Kao-san?" she asked loudly, without taking her eyes off the foliage. "I can't find her anywhere!"  
  
"I... uh... think I saw her go for tofu." Sanosuke lied gallantly.  
  
"Yes!" Enishi caught on quickly. "Tae sent us some beef trimmings and she was going to make sukiyaki!"  
  
Megumi smiled nastily at Enishi and strolled up to the tree. She pressed her front against the trunk and gazed up into the canopy over her. "Really, Kao-san? I didn't know you could buy tofu up in a tree!"  
  
Kaoru face vaulted and fell out of the tree. It was actually quite a sight to behold for she somersaulted in mid-air, so as not to land on her head and started backing away from Megumi as soon as her sandals touched the ground. "I ... ah.. left something in the tree... I've got it so I'm going now!" and the black blur that was Kaoru zipped out of the front gates.  
  
Megumi did her Kodachi-laugh, shielding her mouth with the back of her hand. "Ho ho ho! You may run for now, Kao-san but you cannot run from me forever!" she nodded to the dice-players and strolled back inside the dojo, pausing to share an evil glare with Enishi.  
  
"Well she's back and better than ever." Sanosuke grumbled and shook his head. "But wow, I've never seen her this sadistic."  
  
Enishi sighed as well and laughed, but his sympathy was with the paranoid-straight Kaoru... not to mention that his interests were of a parallel with Megumi's. On any other day he might have gotten up and given Megumi a piece of his mind... but today there  
had been a letter from his brother-in-law.  
  
He withdrew the folded vellum from the insides of his Chinese coat. Tomoe would have had a fit if she saw him wearing it, she wanted him to dress 'like a nice, normal Japanese man! At this rate no woman will have anything to do with us, you'll never get married and carry on the Yukishiro name!'.  
  
Well, the only woman he had eyes for dressed like a man so he didn't consider it an issue.  
  
Enishi pursed his lips and looked at the still un-broken seal on the paper. He'd wanted to wait until Kaoru had a break from Megumi to read it, she was always wanting to hear how Tomoe and Kenshin were doing... even if it often made her sad.  
  
Enishi closed his eyes and recalled the last letter he'd read to Kaoru, the one where Tomoe proudly announced that she was carrying again and this time had made it all the way to seven months without miscarriage. She and Kenshin were hoping that this time, this pregnancy would come to term.  
  
Kaoru had gotten all quiet and done the things she always did when she was upset, finger her scar and get tea. She had this Zen thing going with tea, as long as there was tea in this world nothing truly bad could happen.  
  
"Whatcha got there?" Sanosuke asked, eyeing the letter. "Didya get another letter from your sister?"  
  
"Yes, I was going to wait until Kamiya-sensei could hear it but..."  
  
"At this rate you might as well read it now." Sanosuke predicted. "Megumi will be back at her the minute she gets in the gate."  
  
That made Enishi grind his teeth and he tore open the sealed letter, imagining himself gallantly coming to Kamiya-sensei's rescue when she was being tortured by a giant evil fox monster.  
  
He groaned as soon as he saw the handwriting.  
  
"what's wrong?"  
  
"It's my brother in law who wrote it." Enishi explained. "His handwriting is a language unto itself. Normally when he has something to say Tomoe writes and he dictates but sometimes he decides to do it himself."  
  
_Dearest Brother in law, the letter opened formally _

(Enishi privately thought that his sister's husband had been dipped in starch at birth, he was always so damn stiff and distant!)  
  
_I hope this letter finds you well, Tomoe asks if you are healthy and if not have you have been eating your own cooking?  
_  
*twitch* "They just don't leave me alone!" Enishi muttered darkly.  
  
_If so then she says to tell you that if you would just settle down with a nice girl you wouldn't have this problem. If you ask my humble opinion, I believe that Tomoe is a little too attached to the fact that I married her when I was fifteen.  
_  
"She only preaches it at me every time I see her." Enishi agreed. " 'Enishi! You have a duty to your family name as the only son! Having become the Master of the Kassien Dojo is all well and good but you must provide it with Heirs as well! I do not think that Kamiya-sama would wish for the Dojo to fall out of trusted hands if Kaoru-sama does not ever return from her travels!'" he mimicked his sister's dark, serious tones with uncanny accuracy.

"Well she's back and has a daughter." he informed the paper. "I'm off the hook!"  
  
Sanosuke smothered a laugh. "I used to get that same lecture from Anji every couple of weeks until he went hermit in that forest." he commiserated.  
  
Enishi kept reading the letter, pausing eery so often to rub eyes sore from deciphering Kenshin's cryptic renderings of perfectly simple symbols.  
  
_I regret to inform you that Tomoe has lost another baby, it was hard on her mentally as well as physically. She began to bleed yesterday morning and only stopped a few hours ago. I am still worried over the amount of blood she has lost. I believe the time has come to stop trying. Tomoe may not survive another pregnancy. It pains her greatly, but Tomoe has accepted this and then only because she will be bedridden for several weeks before the doctors say it is advisable for her to begin moving about again. Although one english fool who dared set foot in this house suggested that she could be back up in a matter of days with proper application of bleedings and a number of purges. I nearly killed him as the words left his mouth.  
_  
_Tomoe is asking for you to come and visit her in her convalescence. She says to bring the pick pocket child you mentioned in your last letter as well, I fear that she may try and manipulate you into adopting him. Be on your guard, your sister has become tricky in these late years. You are welcome to bring any close friends with you, it is a long journey to Kyoto and we here would like to meet the people you see day to day.  
  
Please send us a reply soon, your Brother in law _

Himura Kenshin .  
  
Enishi re-folded the letter and tucked it into his coat. "Tomoe lost the baby..." he shook his head and mourned for his sister's pain. He knew that Kenshin had a certain way with the local children and that she wanted to give Kenshin a child of their own more than anything.  
  
"Hey, Yukishiro.... you said that Tomoe and Kaoru were close didn't you?" Sanosuke asked suddenly.  
  
Enishi caught on immediately. "Yes, she hasn't had word of her in nearly a decade. That would revive her more than anything!" he leapt to his feet and dashed into the the dojo to pen a reply to his sister.  
  
Sanosuke chuckled to himself and kicked back on the veranda. "What would they do without me?"  
  
*******  
End Chapter Seven  
*******  
  
Seiyuu; I actually wanted to do Kanryuu in this chapter but I realize that the characters other than Kaoru would need some fleshing out before I did anything else. I still need to give Yahiko a few more dimensions but that can wait. Expect more letters between Enishi and Tomoe in the future! 


	9. Chapter Vlll Death's Door

*******

Chapter Eight; Death's Door.

*******

For those of us who believe in physics,

this separation between past, present, 

and future is only an illusion, however tenacious.

-Albert Einstein  
  
*******  
  
Raven nabbed Kaoru almost as soon as she was out of the dojo.  
  
"Miha! I've got to talk to you!"  
  
"It can wait!" was the harried reply.  
  
Kaoru didn't slow her run for Raven, who could easily keep up, until she was several blocks away and well out of Megumi's reach.  
  
When she did however, Raven grabbed her by the arm and hauled her into a restaurant. Kaoru tried to voice her objections but Raven snapped some orders to a harried maitre'd who showed them to a private room and left them with a pitcher of sake and some tea for Kaoru.  
  
"The meal is on me." Raven consoled her agitated friend, who had mentally been cataloguing the contents of her wallet. "We need to finish the conversation we had yesterday morning."  
  
Kaoru took a long, relaxing draught of her tea and centered herself. "Okay... explain it to me one more time, Raven. What exactly happened and what do you know about it for sure?"  
  
Raven drained a saucer of sake and crossed her legs, oblivious to the fact that she was in another kimono. "You know what we believed before, right? Say it back to me, I want to be sure of what you get." She pressed when Kaoru nodded.  
  
"Well." the Kenshi began. "I know that I died by Enishi's hand in my original 'reality' and some how you intercepted my 'soul', if you will, before I went on to oblivion or the afterlife. You then took my consciousness from that time, 1879, and took it thirteen years in the past to 1866 to transplant it in my fifteen-year-old body. You said you'd changed things in the past to that I was born sooner than I was in my original reality. Then I picked a fight with my father, who didn't deserve it, and ran off to get to the Forest of Barriers where Kenshin would accidentally kill Tomoe. I believed, at the time, that we were in the altered past of my reality but now you suspect that we are in a completely different reality." she glanced at Raven, who looked pensive. "Does that cover it?"  
  
Raven nodded. "Yes, pretty much." she sighed and knocked back another saucer of sake. The waitress appeared then and they both ordered their food in a disinterested fashion.  
  
"How do you think it happened?" Kaoru asked her friend, who scowled.  
  
"I got sabotaged, that's how. I spent the past couple of days checking things out. I did manage to transport your 'soul' to the past but while I was doing so someone altered my 'spell' so that instead of changing the past of your world and putting you down in it--"  
  
"You changed another world, very similar to mine and put me down there instead." Kaoru finished.  
  
Raven nodded. "The SOB was thorough enough about it that I hadn't even realized the demi-portal I erected to bring myself in and out of this place didn't go where I meant it to." she began chewing on a nail and cursing softly in Spanish.  
  
Kaoru didn't ask what an SOB or a 'demi-portal' was. She did, however, realize that there was someone out there who didn't want Raven's endeavors with her to affect her original world. "So does this mean we don't have to worry about triggering a paradox anymore?" Kaoru asked.  
  
Raven was startled out of her rut. She laughed. "Yes, Miha you can save souls to your heart's content." she cocked her head. "There is a certain parallelism about this world, it can't be very far removed from yours," she thought out loud, but Kaoru didn't let her pursue the train of thought.  
  
"Raven, do you know what this means?" she cried.  
  
Raven blinked. "Ah... no? What does it mean?"  
  
An unsettling grin turned up the corners of Kaoru's mouth. "Well for starters..."  
  
***  
  
A very smug Kaoru returned to the Dojo roughly half an hour later. In fact she was -so- pleased with herself that she barely minded the fact that Megumi had changed into her Kenshi outfit and chased her around the Dojo twice after letting her take the tofu she'd brought to the kitchen.  
  
Enishi came to her rescue, though. Kenshin had written a letter and the mixture of elation and apprehension on her face as she read it had caused Megumi to back off for a little while.  
  
The reprieve was short-lived however, after giving Kaoru about twenty minutes to mull over the contents of the letter Megumi decided she need a cheer-up cuddle. This caused Kaoru to hide in another tree and not come down until a starving Kaori and Yahiko cajoled Megumi to leave her along long enough for her to cook supper.  
  
Kaoru was never so glad to find herself alone in a kitchen as she was that day.  
  
Of course she didn't miss the fact that, once again, Megumi was watching her cook (some strange hobby of the woman's) nor did she miss the silent thud of a kunai hitting the wooden frame of the window casement inches away from Megumi's ear.  
  
She watched from behind her hair as Megumi, with hands that shook, took a tiny twist of paper from the grip of the throwing dagger, opened it, and turned pallid white as she read it.  
  
She did not, however, expect Megumi to step into the kitchen and hand the paper to her.  
  
"It's for you." she whispered.  
  
The letter was from Jin'eh. It said:  
  
'Darling victim, I'm free from prison. My employer was kind enough to have me released. Come alone to the clearing behind the Shikyou Temple at twilight or my next dagger won't miss the pretty lady.'  
  
Kaoru snorted. "The man doesn't learn."  
  
"Kao-san, don't go." Megumi said urgently.  
  
Kaoru smiled at the worried doctor. "Mou, it's nothing to worry about. Jin'eh is a small fish, could you take over supper for me? I'll be back before dark."  
  
"How can you take this so calmly?"  
  
Kaoru cocked her head and smiled with her eyes closed. "Because I'm used to it. As a doctor you sew flesh back together, stem the flow of blood from a wound, amputate limbs, and all sorts of unpleasant things that would turn a normal person's stomach and eat their nerves for lunch. Yet here you are, dealing with the problems of your life like any normal person does. When the time comes for you to re-attach a severed limb or deliver a baby do you allow anyone to stop you?" at Megumi's mute headshake she stopped smiling and opened her eyes. "I fight the way you doctor. Now, please Megumi, stand aside and let me go."  
  
Megumi moved to the side and allowed Kaoru to exit the kitchen. As she neared the gate the doctor called after her, "If you die, I'll chase you into the afterlife and you won't ever have a second of peace for all eternity!"  
  
Kaoru stopped to turn around but the sound of shoji hitting wood stopped her. The screen was closed.  
  
A twig snapped.  
  
Kaoru glanced in the direction of the sound, her hand tensing to go for her weapon-- it was Yahiko who stepped out of the bushes. He was wearing that pale green gi of his and had a shinai leaned against his shoulder... he reminded her so much of the home she'd lost...  
  
"You're going to fight that weird assassin creep again." he didn't phrase it as a question.  
  
Kaoru nodded. "He's named a duel ground."  
  
Yahiko took a step forward. "I want to go with you!"  
  
"You know better than that." she chided gently and sighed as his shoulders slumped.  
  
"I know... but, I got left behind last time and I..." he shook himself. "Look, even though we haven't talked for a while; you've been busy around the dojo and I've been training. I still really want to get to know you the way Enishi and Kaori do, the way you saved me when we first met..." he exhaled gustily, words had failed him. "What I'm trying to say is; if you go out there and let yourself get killed by some psycho, I'll never get that chance."  
  
Kaoru smiled. "It's going to take more than an ex-hitokiri with bad fashion to get rid of me." she promised Yahiko. "When I get back, we'll sit on the veranda and talk to your heart's content."  
  
"That's a promise." Yahiko told her firmly.  
  
Kaoru could feel his eyes boring into her back even after she left the courtyard and turned a corner... or maybe it was just her imagination.  
  
***  
  
"... but Kaori-chan, it'll be dark soon!" Tsubame held on to Kaori's arm with all her strength. "You should stay at the Akabeko tonight."  
  
Kaori laughed and wriggled out of Tsubame's grip. "Kaa-chan will be worried if I'm not home for supper!"  
  
Tae watched the two girls wrestle with good cheer, it actually wouldn't be dark for another hour yet, and Kaori had plenty of time to get home. Tsubame just didn't want to part with her friend yet.  
  
"Tsubame, maybe you could walk Kaori-chan home?" she suggested.  
  
"Then Yahiko would have to walk -her- back!" Kaori teased. She got a wicked look on her face and nudged Tsubame with her elbow. "Or is that the plan?"  
  
Tsubame turned a hot red and cupped her cheeks. "N-no! That's just s-silly!"  
  
Kaori chuckled nastily. "Oh I see, I'll walk -you- to the Dojo so Yahiko can walk you home, I see!" she grabbed Tsubame's arm and pulled her out of the Akabeko.  
  
"Kaori-chan! You've got it all wrong!" the shy waitress protested. "There's nothing at all going on between Yahiko-chan and myself!"  
  
"There should be!" Kaori chirped. "He may an evil, dander-headed, foul-mouthed brat who doesn't deserve to kiss the ground you walk on but you could certainly do worse!"  
  
Kaori stopped dragging Tsubame all at once. In fact she stopped so abruptly that Tsubame smacked into her back. She glanced around the empty street around them, the Akabeko was out of sight and around a corner.  
  
"You could date one of these creeps for example." Kaori commented cryptically.  
  
As if on cue several men melted out of a cramped alley whose mouth had been disguised by the shadow of one of the ornamental trees lining the street.  
  
"Stay back, Tsubame. I'll handle these jerks." Kaori instructed her friend.  
  
"Kaori-chan..." Tsubame whimpered, eyeing the wicked daggers some of them were sporting and the suspicious looking walking stick another carried.  
  
"Hey, pretty-pretty." One of them taunted, He was tall with long hair the reached down to his shoulders. "Want to play with us for a while, we know some real fun... games."  
  
"Really?" Kaori snorted. "Humph, well you certainly suck at hide-and-seek, that's for sure. I could hear you breathing."  
  
The tall one, who carried the walking stick, laughed huskily. "Oh our games are a lot more fun than hide-and-seek, these are grown-up games."  
  
Kaori was privately glad she hadn't let Tsubame talk her into wearing one of the constraining Akabeko yukatas. She was wearing her more familiar gi and trousers; the clothes she had worn habitually at the Monastery. They would give her plenty of freedom of movement, which she would need to take all these guys at once.  
  
'The Abbot had just started me at group fighting when I left... maybe I should have stayed for a few tips. Mou, when I get home I'm gonna ask Sano-kun to spar with me.' Kaori thought in consternation. 'I haven't been practicing nearly as hard as I should have these past few weeks, now I'm gonna pay the price!'  
  
She eased herself into her defensive stance. On her own she might have stood a better chance, but now that she had to defend Tsubame as well as herself... an idea struck her.  
  
"Tsubame, run!" she bellowed.  
  
Tsubame needed no second urgings, she knew when to get out of the way.  
  
"No! Don't go!" The tall man laughed and took a two handed grip on his walking stick. "You haven't played with us yet!" he stopped laughing when Kaori rushed him and knocked the concealed sword out his hands. She kicked it well out of reach and danced back so that she was between the thugs and Tsubame's retreating form.  
  
The thugs broke rank and some of them went after Tsubame. Kaori lashed out as the passed her; foot to the gut there, chop to the back of the neck here, three of the men fell but one got past her.  
  
"You won't get... ack!" Kaori leapt away, Tall-man had run for his sword while she'd been busy and now pressed his advantage. Kaori squashed her impatience and temporarily focused her attentions on Tall-man. For the moment she was in more danger than Tsubame.  
  
Kaori took a tiger stance and waited for him to attack... a superior sneer twisted his lips and Kaori could have groaned, she knew what that look meant. It meant that he was about to start yipping at her about how good he supposedly was.  
  
'I can hear it now' she thought angrily. 'You foolish little girl! You dare challenge me? Don't you know who I am? I am (insert random name) the (insert random title) of (insert random place)! You don't stand a chance against me!'  
  
Tall-man chuckled. "Fool girl, you dare to challenge me? Don't you know who I am?"  
  
"No, but you're going to tell me aren't you?" Kaori griped.  
  
He went on as if he hadn't heard her. "I am Masuke Sekihara, the Tiger of Toyama! You don't stand a chance against me!"  
  
"Toyama, hmm. wow you really are from out in the sticks aren't you?" Kaori quipped. "Quit jabbering at me and fight."  
  
"You insolent little... ouch! Bitch!" That last was uttered because Kaori had talked up to him and punched him in the eye.  
  
Masuke leapt back and drew his sword with a flourish. "I'm going to teach you your place in life, Bra-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiieeeeee!!!!!!"  
  
Masuke crumpled over Kaori's knee (which was planted in his gut) giving her an excellent angle to rabbit punch him. He crumpled back onto the pavement and Kaori took off after the one who had gone after Tsubame.  
  
Tsubame hadn't gotten terribly far, only to the corner, she was in a kimono and geta and her pursuer's legs were longer than hers.  
  
He'd pinned her up against a wall and had his head down by her ear, Kaori could only imagine what he was saying to her...  
  
"You son of a..." she started to run towards them but all at once someone else stepped out from behind the corner and the man tormenting Tsubame was down for the count.  
  
Kaori was further away and didn't see who it was right away, but Tsubame burst into tears and threw herself into his arms.  
  
"Yukishiro-sama!"  
  
Kaori blinked and squinted to get a better look at him; it was Enishi!  
  
The reason she hadn't recognized him right away was because he was in his practice gi and hakama instead of that red and black Chinese get-up he normally affected.  
  
'That's right, he was doing a lesson over at the Maekawa dojo today!' she frowned and ran towards them. 'but he should have been back at the Dojo before now, I remember him fighting with Megumi-san when she was hugging Kaa-chan...'  
  
"Kaori!" Tsubame cried her name like she'd just remembered.  
  
She wrenched herself away from Enishi's grasp and spun to face-- the large pile of bodies Kaori had made. She turned a bright red. "Kaori! How could you worry me like that?!"  
  
Enishi observed the pile with pride. "Well, you certainly are walking in your Okaasan's footsteps aren't you?" he stepped up to Kaori and ruffled her bangs. "Such a little bad-ass."  
  
"Hey!" Kaori protested. "you're messing up my hair!"  
  
Tsubame and Enishi laughed at this until Tsubame stopped and pointed out a familiar figure trudging up the street.  
  
"Isn't that your Okaa-sama?" she asked Kaori who grinned and belted up to her mother.  
  
"Kaa-chan! Kaa-chan!"  
  
Kaoru looked up from her walking reverie with a start, a gentle smile touched her face as her daughter leapt up to hug her.  
  
"Hello, Musume." she greeted her.  
  
"Look what I did, Kaa-chan!" Kaori pointed at the pile of thugs as if they were an ink painting she'd done. "They were trying to hassle Tsubame and me, but I whipped them real good!"  
  
Kaoru looked them over, made mental counts, and gauged their 'toughness'. "Looks like you missed one."  
  
Kaoru blushed. "Well the one with the stringy hair pulled a sword and he got past me..."  
  
"A sword, Musume, that's dangerous."  
  
Kaori made a 'piff-piff' motion with her hand. "It would have been if he hadn't been so busy yapping at me."  
  
"Oh, one of those." Kaoru shook her head. "You should head back to the Dojo with Enishi-kun." she nodded to the Shinhondai who blushed. "Supper will be ready soon."  
  
"Where are you going, Kaa-chan?"  
  
"I have an errand, Megumi-san is fixing supper tonight." Kaoru explained.  
  
"Why don't I go with you?" Enishi suggested. "Actually I was out looking for you."  
  
A stress tick leapt in Kaoru's eyebrow. "You should escort Kaori and Tsubame, after all they were just attacked by a gang of hooligans."  
  
Enishi looked thoughtful. "Well, it's not likely to happen again, but perhaps. We'll just talk when you get home, but are you sure?"  
  
Kaoru sighed, she hadn't really wanted to do this. She pointed to Enishi. "Sic him." she ordered the girls.  
  
Kaori grabbed Enishi's arm. "Tsubame, get his other one!" she commanded. When the girls had both his arms, she smiled cheekily at her mother. "We've secured the prisoner, awaiting further orders." she intoned dramatically.  
  
Kaoru nodded sharply. "Return to the compound, I'll interrogate him upon my return. Move out!"  
  
***  
  
She watched the threesome drift away. They seemed... different somehow; more solid, intense, permanent.  
  
'I might not see them again.' she realized. 'there's absolutely no guarantee that I'll win this fight with Jin'eh.'  
  
Kaori turned her head that moment to laugh at something Enishi said or did, there was a soft pink blush decorating her cheeks... Kaoru noted the gentle softening in her vivid blue eyes as she looked at the white haired kenshi.  
  
'Kaori... and Enishi?' Kaoru shuddered and shook herself. 'He's a wonderful boy, there's no reason why I shouldn't be delighted that she likes him.'  
  
... except for the fact that he'd murdered her mother in another life...  
  
'She's a strong girl, I can't make her decisions for her.' Kaoru pushed her bangs out her face and sighed at herself. 'What am I doing? I'm trying to distract myself from the fight with Jin'eh, that's what. Time to go.'  
  
The trip to Shikyou shrine was shorter than it should have been, but the scene was no different from the last time she had been there; bound hand and foot and placed in the shrine like the statue of a saint.  
  
She left Tokyo behind her as the sun set in a bloody glory. The moon and stars were more than enough light for her sensitive eyes however, they adjusted quickly as she picked her way along the disused trail to the shrine.  
  
"Kaoru!"  
  
Her head snapped up at the sound of her name... no, it couldn't be! Kaoru broke into a sprint and barged into the shrine clearing. "Yahiko!"  
  
Jin'eh was lounging against a tree trunk, casually smoking a cigarette... a cigarette Kaoru remembered well from her own ordeal. In the shrine, placed like the statue of a saint, bound hand and foot was Yahiko Myougin.  
  
Jin'eh had to have grabbed Yahiko as soon as she left the dojo.  
  
He smiled that physically impossible smile at her. "Welcome to the party, Kaoru Kamiya." he exhaled a gust of smoke. "It's nice to know who you are at last. You were very rude not to have introduced yourself last time we met. The boy here has been telling me how very strong you are."  
  
"You had no right to involve Yahiko in this, it is between you and I." Kaoru said quietly. Her face was bent forward so that her bangs fell down to shield her eyes from view.  
  
"Eh?" Jin'eh threw down his cigarette and ground it under his heel. "There's something not quite right about your voice. This is the first time I've heard you speak." he cocked his head and looked her over. "Could it be... I was defeated by a woman?"  
  
'Give the psycho in the ugly hat a cigar.' Kaoru though angrily. 'I've been taken for a man again!'  
  
Jin'eh didn't wait for an answer. "When I saw that lady chasing you around the Dojo, I naturally assumed... but it doesn't matter."  
  
Kaoru developed a permanent eyebrow tick.  
  
Yahiko developed a sweat drop. 'Poor Kaoru, having Megumi hanging all over her really isn't going to help the non-male image.' he thought.  
  
"Are you trying to piss me off?" Kaoru growled at Jin'eh, who laughed that 'evil villain' _bwahahaha _laugh.  
  
"Yes, in fact I am!" He dragged the back of his hand across his mouth. "Although... now that I know you're a woman, this changes things slightly."  
  
Uh-oh... Kaoru didn't like the direction this conversation was taking.  
  
*******  
End Chapter Eight  
*******  
  
Seiyuu- Sorry, I just read an Anita Blake Novel (Obsidian Butterfly) if anyone out there has read that book, pleas please tell me that Jin'eh doesn't have shades of Olaf! 


	10. Chapter lX Indecent Proposal

*******

Chapter Nine: Indecent Proposal

*******

O Rose, thou art sick.

The invisible worm  
That flies in the night  
In the howling storm  
Has found out thy bed  
Of crimson joy.  
And his dark secret love  
Does thy life destroy.  
- The Sick Rose, Blake  
  
*******  
*author's note* Now we get into the fun fighting! It is finally time to unveil all the fun sword techniques I made up for Kaoru!  
*******  
  
Jin'eh's eyes -those strange damn near inhuman eyes- drifted over Kaoru's lithe form, pausing at the appropriate spots to pick out the gentle curves under her disguising clothes.  
  
"I don't know how I could have missed it, now that I've looked." he grinned at her, a different sort of grin; the kind a man gives a woman who he's imagining in bed. "You know, in the proper sort of clothes, you could really be something."  
  
Kaoru's grip tightened on her weapon. "Did you bring me here to fight or to chat me up?" she growled.  
  
"Oh to fight, be assured little one." he cocked his head. "But now that I know you're a woman, it makes me wonder. I've heard stories in the underground about a woman with preternatural abilities; they call her the Raiden no Onna. She's said to fight with a bokken like the Yoshitsune Minamoto and that she can slice through steel with it. Before now I regarded you as a fairy-tale meant to scare little Kenshi into following their orders. 'Be good or the Raiden no Onna will come and get you in your sleep!'" Jin'eh spat to one side (an unfortunate and gross symptom of chain smoker) "Of course during the Bakumatsu there were many in the Shinsengumi, where I was stationed, who didn't believe that the Hitokiri Battousai existed either... they all died under his sword."  
  
"I don't play those stupid name-games, Jin'eh Udo. I am Kaoru Kamiya, Master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu." she gritted through clenched teeth.  
  
Really, she'd thought that stupid nickname had died already. Raiden no Onna, phaugh! 'Shades of Battousai... or worse, Tanuki no Onna.' she thought with a barely repressed shudder.  
  
Jin'eh eyes widened slightly. "So the rumors are true, you do have the knowledge of Buddha."  
  
"Not everything, it just seems that way." Kaoru tossed her hair. "To a mouse, who has only a mouse's view of the world, it must seem that an eagle can see and know everything but and eagle doesn't know everything. An eagle has only an eagle's view of the world."  
  
"Very poetic." Jin'eh congratulated her. "Before we fight, I want you to tell me something... or the boy dies in a very slow and agonizing manner. Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance? I heard what my target offered for my death."  
  
Kaoru glanced at Yahiko… but the ten year old seemed relaxed, confidant even, in fact he too looked just a bit curious as to the why and how of Jin'eh's question.  
  
'Well, it's nice to see that at least one of us has faith in me.' Kaoru thought acerbically.  
  
"I'll tell you what I told Sanosuke," she said slowly. "I am a Ronin, well an ex-Ronin, I am not a fair judge nor a jury nor an executioner. It's not up to me to decide whether you live or whether you die. Life is a precious gift and the sword school I grew up in taught me to preserve that gift even in others. My hands are stained and my soul is not pure, I cannot decide whether you live or die because I am not worthy to make that choice. I must, however, protect others from the harm that you seek to inflict upon them. I would be a hypocrite to 'save life' by depriving you of yours."  
  
Jin'eh spat again, but this time it was in disgust. "Petty ideals." he growled. "I should have known."  
  
*Author's note* Perhaps he thought Kaoru thought he was too cute to die? ^.^¿ We'll never know. Although I guess he doesn't meet many girls in his line of work.  
  
"Petty ideals or not, that is my reason." Kaoru shifted her stance and pointed her bokken at Jin'eh. "Is that all, or can we get down to business?"  
  
Jin'eh knocked his black kasa off angrily and stripped his yukata down to the waist. Underneath he wore a sort of stretchy black body suit. It looked shiny, could it be leather? In this weather?  
  
"Until you started spouting utopian idealism, I thought you might be a formidable woman, but now I see that's all you are; an idiot woman." he flexed his muscles, they rippled under the tight black leather. "I had ideals once too, but I learned quickly just how useless they are... allow me to do the same for you."  
  
Kaoru saw his head twist to face Yahiko... she knew what would happen next.  
  
"NO!"  
  
Jin'eh gaze snapped back to his opponent when the rise of static electricity in the air caused the hairs on the back of his neck to rise up.  
  
Kaoru threw a sleeve over her eyes. "Inabikari!" she shouted and the grotto was flooded with blue-white light that blinded both Jin'eh and Yahiko. The young boy threw his own arms up to shield himself from the light.  
  
The second the light faded, Kaoru dropped her arm and charged Jin'eh, who was furiously rubbing at the after-images painted on his temporarily useless retinas.  
  
"Arashi no Makaze!" she shouted as she launched a flurry of sweeping blows on the helpless assassin (okay, that sounds wrong)  
  
Yahiko, having covered his eyes before Jin'eh, regained his eyesight almost immediately after Kaoru executed her 'Inabikari'. He blinked the last few hot pink and purple ghosts away to see Jin'eh fall under Kaoru's attack.  
  
The fight, however, was nowhere near finished.  
  
"Yahiko, keep your eyes covered!" Kaoru snapped at him. "Don't make eye contact with Jin'eh, he uses a ki-induced illusion but he can't do it unless he sees your eyes!"  
  
'then I can't see the fight!' The younger part of Yahiko's mind whined before the older part hushed it up. 'I'm already a liability to Kaoru as it is, I've got to trust that she knows what she's doing. I can't do anything even if I wasn't tied up except run away...'  
  
An idea struck Yahiko like the lightning in Kaoru's aura. He slammed his eyes shut and began to work his way out of his bonds. He didn't need his eyes to slip the clumsy knots Jin'eh had tied.  
  
Jin'eh bent his back into his fall and back flipped to his feet, katana at the ready-- his eyes were still fuzzy but he could see again, if only a little.  
  
"BITCH!" he bellowed at her. "Now I -will- kill you! And when you're dead I'll tear the brat apart, then I'll go to that dojo and kill everyone there! No one does this to Jin'eh Udo the Kurogasa!"  
  
Kaoru's eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't otherwise visibly react. Instead she returned to her heady stance and charged again, Jin'eh whipped his katana up and parried.  
  
Yahiko could hear the clash of wood and steel as well as the occasional grunts and threats from the combatants. He got his hands free and began work on his feet. 'Beat him, Kaoru. You've got to beat him, I can't help you!'  
  
Suddenly hands emerged from the darkness and Yahiko felt the bonds slip away. A hand clamped over his mouth and he felt warm breath tickle his neck.  
  
"Be quiet and do not move, when I let you go run for Tokyo as fast as your legs can carry you and do not look back. Worry not for your Dojo and your friends, should your Master fail then we will step in. Go!" the hands released him and Yahiko wasted no time in following orders.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Yahiko could see a gaunt white face with wicked yellow fangs retreat into the darkness of the forest.  
  
Jin'eh, however, spotted him as he ran. "You won't get away!" he threatened and abandoned his attack on Kaoru to lunge for him.  
  
Kaoru, seeing Jin'eh's back turned to her, poured all her remaining strength into one last attack. "Yoha Inkaten!"  
  
The four simultaneous blows hit Jin'eh in both shoulders and hips. He hit the ground and despite his endeavors, he could no longer move his arms and legs.  
  
"You... you dislocated my limbs!" he snarled up at Kaoru, who was daintily slipping her bokken back into her belt.  
  
"Indeed I did." she agreed perkily. "Yahiko, go wake up another night watch man. Tell him we've caught a dangerous sword welding criminal."  
  
"Hai!" Yahiko beamed at Kaoru. "I knew you would win."  
  
"Is that why you were running away?" she prodded, when the boy's face fell she laughed. "Mou, I know why you ran and I'm proud you have such good judgment. Go on, we have a date on the veranda we don't want to miss."  
  
Jin'eh was quiet until Yahiko was out of earshot. Kaoru sat herself down on a handy rock and prepared to wait until a policeman came.  
  
"You may have defeated me, but this doesn't mean those pretty exalted ideals of yours won't fail you one day." he said, almost sulkily.  
  
Kaoru cocked her head and looked down at him. "Mou, I've been a Ronin for thirteen years. My trials may be nothing compared to those of some but I've born an illegitimate child as the result of rape, I've starved and frozen on the road side, I've been jeered by pretty foreign housewives for my dressing habits, I am a thirty year old Japanese woman who is not married, and I have not failed in my faith. Life in all its wondrous forms is sacred. One fight with one assassin will not do what all that has not." she leaned down to whispered in Jin'eh's ear. "I'll share a secret with you Jin'eh; Our pretty ideals don't fail us, we fail our pretty ideals."  
  
When the police officer arrived (with an escort of five other guards) Kaoru answered the same questions about a hundred times and finally was allowed to take Yahiko home around 6 am in the morning.  
  
The sun was rising as they both trudged through the streets of Tokyo. Considering the night before it, the sunrise was actually rather pathetic.  
  
"Mou!" Kaoru huffed, albeit wearily, as she saw the watery pale light crawling it's way up through a dirty gray sky. "You'd think that it might be more impressive."  
  
Yahiko gave a wholehearted sigh and faltered in his steps. Kaoru caught him with one hand and held him up. "Ano! You had better go to bed as soon as we get home, I guess we'll have to save tea on the veranda for another day." she caught herself on a yawn. "Come to think of it, I'm tired as well!"  
  
Yahiko yawned a yawn that made his mouth take up most of his face. "Gomen... you think they could have at least gotten us a rickshaw or a carriage after keeping us up all night!" he complained.  
  
"Mou!" Kaoru sigh and laughed weakly. "As odd as this sounds, not all policemen are as kind as Fujita-san."  
  
Yahiko choked on his laughter and the two had to stop as he doubled over with it.  
  
"Hey look! There she is!"  
  
"Eh?" Kaoru and Yahiko looked up at the sound of a man shouting.  
  
There was a man pointing towards them and waving to a group of others, Kaoru noticed Enishi and Sanosuke among their number.  
  
"Kamiya-sensei!" Enishi shouted and forced his way to the front. He reached her first and fell to his knees before the exhausted pair. He checked them briskly for injuries, rather impersonally.  
  
The people were, Kaoru belatedly realized, the neighboring people who lived around the Dojo. People who a mere week ago made signs against evil as they passed the front gates.  
  
How... odd.  
  
"Are you all right?" Sanosuke asked breathlessly as he caught up to Enishi. "That bastard psycho didn't hurt ya, did he?"  
  
Yahiko stirred to life. "No way! He didn't even land a single blow one her..."  
  
"Ano, Yahiko! I thought you were exhausted!" Kaoru protested without much hope but the young boy didn't stem the flow of praise.  
  
An old woman who lived next door to the dojo and ran an okomoniyaki yatai was the first to shut Yahiko up. "Your sensei looks like something the cat dragged in, no matter how good her performance it's obvious she hasn't slept in a while." she paused to squat down by Kaoru with much creaking of bones and examined her face critically. "See, you! You've got smudges beneath your eyes! You'll never keep your husband looking like that! You two!"  
  
Enishi and Sanosuke leapt to attention.  
  
"Take these two home and don't let them out of their futons for at least twelve hours!" she barked.  
  
Kaoru sighed a put upon sigh as Sanosuke picked her up and began to bear her home. Still-- it was better than walking home.  
  
Although she had to feel smug for a minute, Sanosuke would -never- have carried Kenshin home like this.  
  
***  
  
"Mou, Megumi, why do I have to wear your clothes!?" Kaoru complained from her spot on the veranda (from which she was not allowed to move I might add). "and doing laundry is my chore!"  
  
She fell into sullen silence under Megumi's death glare.  
  
Kaoru was dressed in a dark blue kimono with black and silver swallows swooping all over the obi and the sleeves. The doctor had even swept her dark hair up into a simple yet elegant coif that kept the hair off her neck. A cup of tea sat on a tray beside her with some of Megumi's coveted o-hagi.  
  
Megumi was kneeling before a wash bin that contained every scrap of clothing Kaoru owned. "Because." she snapped irritably. "You were out all last night and most of the day before playing heroine and if you think I'm going to let you play house maid today you've got another thing coming!"  
  
"Mou." Kaoru sulked. She knew it was Megumi's way of showing that she was glad Kaoru was alive, it's it's own way it was more endearing than the eternal glomping and chasing.  
  
Even more unsettling to Kaoru, Megumi's protective behavior was a sign that the doctor's feelings were no light matter.  
  
'Sessha think that she might be in trouble, de gozaru.' Kaoru thought. 'Orororo...'  
  
"Hey, Kaoru!"  
  
Kaoru smiled and waved to Sanosuke as he vaulted over the back gate into the dojo courtyard. "Good morning." she greeted him.  
  
Sanosuke gave an approving whistle as he looked her over. "You -do- clean up pretty! No one's going to mistake you for a man now, eh?"  
  
Kaoru twitched. Sanosuke had apparently heard that part of the story as well...  
  
"Keep your hormones to yourself." Megumi threatened Sanosuke, who backed away from her dramatically stumbling over his own feet. Both women laughed with Sanosuke when he really did trip and fall on his butt.  
  
"You here for a reason, rooster-hair?" Megumi asked giving Sano the evil eye as he tossed himself on the veranda by Kaoru and stole some of her o-hagi; although to be fair he did leave her the lion's share. "or are you just gracing us with your presence?"  
  
"I'm gracing you with my presence, but I also saw ol' spider-face headed this way." He turned serious. "You think that Kurogasa might have gotten out?"  
  
"I doubt." Kaoru sipped her tea and chewed thoughtfully on one of the o-hagi Sanosuke had left her. "Especially not if Saitou's back in town."  
  
"That's right, Spider-face wouldn't be as forgiving as you. Ugly-hat would be dead by now if he'd gotten out. Think he might have another job for us?"  
  
Kaoru sighed. "Mou! I hope not!"  
  
Sanosuke eyed the last o-hagi mournfully. "Oi, Megitsune! Is there any more of that?"  
  
Megumi sighed. "I was going to make some more for when Enishi, Yahiko, and Kaori get back from practice at the Maekawa dojo."  
  
She stood and patted off her kimono, a more common one with plainer colors and pattern than her normal get-up's; plainly suited to housework. As she passed Sanosuke she smiled. "In return for me making o-hagi for you, you can finish the laundry. Kaoru can tell you what to do if you forget how!"  
  
"Eep!" Sanosuke looked like he'd swallowed a bug. "Oi, wait! The o-hagi isn't that..." but Megumi didn't listen. Making o-hagi was more fun than laundry any day.  
  
"And don't let Kao-san leave that spot! She's resting today whether she wants to or not! Doctor's orders!" Megumi yelled over her shoulder.  
  
Sanosuke drug a hand through his bangs and cursed, but he squatted down in front of the laundry and began scrubbing the clothes.  
  
"Oi, Kaoru, are these yours?" he asked as he got familiar with his work.  
  
"Hai." Kaoru murmured. "Megumi decided that the best way to keep me chained to the dojo was to take all my clothes and stuff me into one of her kimono. After she's dried them she's threatening to mend them all just to keep me still for another few hours."  
  
Sanosuke guffawed. "Well remember this next time you want to spend the night fighting a crazy swordsman from hell. The Kitsune's gonna get you!"  
  
Kaoru sweat-dropped, but didn't reply. Saitou chose that instant to appear at the rear gate.  
  
"Good morning, Kamiya-san." he said, tipping his hat.  
  
"Good morning Fujita-san." Kaoru replied. "won't you come in?"  
  
"Thank you, you look very pleasant in feminine clothing. I almost didn't recognize you." Saitou glanced down at Sanosuke. "Finally working for a living, are we?"  
  
"Unlike some people I could mention." The yojimbo snarled back.  
  
"Is there a reason for this visit, Fujita-san?" Kaoru asked gently, breaking up the fight-in-progress. "If I recall, Shinnosuke-kun doesn't start his lessons here until next week."  
  
Saitou withdrew a folded note from within his smartly tailored coat. "Jin'eh Udo, code named Kurogasa, committed suicide last night."  
  
Kaoru started and frowned. "why are you telling me this?"  
  
Saitou handed her the note. "He left you a message. It was originally written in blood on the wall of his cell but I took the liberty of copying it down for you."  
  
Kaoru shuddered and accepted the note. "I have a sinking feeling that I know what this letter says..."  
  
"You would be surprised." Saitou said delicately and coughed.  
  
'_To Kaoru Kamiya of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, Raiden no Onna, and my dear defeater. The officer who brings you to this, if they do at all, will probably have told you what I have done. I imagine you'll be angry with me, having sullied your ideals; but don't be. I was going to die anyway, there's an officer here who came to my cell door and whispered three words to me this evening; 'Aku, Soku, Zan'. Another pretty idealist, although not quite like you._

I would have liked to break that illusion you have, life is sacred, we would have been good together. I might even go so far as to say that I wish I had met you before I became what I am now. Wishes are all very well and good but a hitokiri is a hitokiri from the second he is born amidst blood and carnage to the day he dies. I am a hitokiri so I know of what I speak. You may have been right in what you said to me before your student brought the night-watch. Even so I must ponder it in hell, which is where I will wait for you. I'll be watching you from the very edge of the pit to see how long until you too fail your ideals. When you do, we'll fall into the inferno together. 

Until then.'  
  
Kaoru put the letter down and indulged herself in a good long shudder. Sanosuke snatched the letter from her limp hands and scanned it. Then he too put it down and shuddered.  
  
"Man... that's just... sick."  
  
Kaoru took back the letter and folded it up carefully. Saitou raised an eyebrow as she tucked it into her kimono.  
  
"Don't get me wrong." she told him. "I don't believe that I will fail myself as he predicts... but." she put a hand over the spot in her kimono where it lay. "but maybe one day I might need a reminder. Now I have it."  
  
******  
End Chapter Nine  
******  
Seiyuu; Okay, the post-mortem love letter from Jin'eh might have been pushing it.  
  
Here's descriptions of the attacks Kaoru used in this chapter.  


****

Yoha inkaten - flash point aftermath  
  
This attack is loosely based on the Kuzu-ryu-sen. Kaoru isn't nearly as fast as Kenshin so she wouldn't be able to pull off the Kuzu-Ryu-sen and hit the seven killing points all at once. Instead, she developed the Yoha inkaten, which targets only four disabling points instead of seven killing points. The yoha inkaten targets the shoulders and hips and, if done correctly, dislocates all four major ball joints rendering the opponent helpless until someone puts him back together; usually that someone is a prison physician.  
  
The doctors in Tokyo get very familiar with the Yohan inkaten. It's her favorite move.  
  
**tokkan inazuma**- lighting flash attack (rough translation)  
  
this attack is one that Kaoru uses more frequently than the others. In fact she uses it all the time and some could argue that it is her favorite skill. This is when Kaoru 'sheathes' her bokken in combination of her own ki and the air pressure of her attacks. With the tokkan inazuma she can use her bokken against a metal sword. Depending on how good her opponent is Kaoru can use more or less of her ki to protect the bokken. Against common street punks she would use very very little and against , oh say, Saitou she would use much more.   
  
**Arashi no makaze **- Devil's tempest (rough translation)  
  
this move is based loosely on Kenshin's ryu son sen (not one of his more favored attacks, he preferrs one shots like the Ryu sui sen) Kaoru takes a two handed grip on the bodken and uses the lightning speed to land several sweeping blows. This is actually a rather crude attack and is really nothing more than standing in front of an oppenent and beating on them with enough speed that they can't retaliate. This isn't one of Kaoru's favorite moves either although it does get the job done. 


	11. Chapter X Between Heartbeats

**********  
Chapter Ten; Between Heat beats  
**********  
  
Now let no charitable hope  
Confuse my mind with images  
Of eagle and antelope:  
I am in nature none of these.  
  
I was, being human, born alone;  
I am, being woman, hard beset;  
I live by squeezing from a stone  
The little nourishment I get.  
  
In masks outrageous and austere  
The years go by in single file;  
But none has merited my fear,  
and none have escaped my smile.  
  
Elinor Wylie 'Let no charitable hope'  
  
**********  
*author's note* I've received a review that mentioned that Kaoru was using a lot of ki and that it would take her a bit longer to 'power up' than I was giving her. This is not a DBZ fic, I won't spend X-odd chapters with the characters doing nothing but standing still and yelling while they create an aura. I realize it's a great stalling tactic for when you've run out of pre-conceived plot but I refuse to insult you guys that way. In this fic, for the sake of argument, ki can be manifested and used quickly. The point of the whole Ki thing is to provide Kaoru with a different base of power than Kenshin and in sword fights it needs to be available -fast- or she's dead.  
  
Please don't take offense at this rant but I absolutely detest DBZ because of their 'powering up' scenes and five-minute fights that take over half a season. I want to be absolutely clear that I will -never- do something similar in one of my fics.  
**********  
  
Kaoru registered the arm around her waist with only the barest of attentions, in her dream world it was only natural that it should be there and it could only be attached to one person.  
  
'Kenshin, I missed you.'  
  
Soft, infinitely gentle eyes that perfect shade of violet crinkled at the corners.  
  
'I missed you too, Kaoru-dono. Don't go away again, promise me you'll stay with me forever.'  
  
Kaoru sighed her utter contentment. 'I promise, I'll be by your side forever.'  
  
'I'm glad to hear that, Kao-san.'  
  
The dream world shuddered and suddenly the red haired rurouni was no longer by her side, but was replaced by a sumptuously naked Megumi.  
  
"AEIIIIIIIIII!"  
  
Kaoru burst up off the futon, bodken in hand, knocking Megumi back and off the bed.  
  
"Oh, Kao-san! You didn't say you woke up so violently!" she pouted, rolling over onto her side so as to display herself in her sleeping kimono to the utmost advantage.  
  
"Megumi-san!" Kaoru cried, scandalized. "How could you sneak into my futon while I was sleeping? Have you no shame?!"  
  
Megumi laughed and got her her feet. "I was cold." she said flippantly. the kitsune doctor flipped her hair back out of her face and fixed Kaoru with an amused look. "By the way, who's 'Kenshin'?"  
  
When Kaoru turned a hot red and started stammering, Megumi got a lot less amused. "Hmph, I see." she huffed. "Well, if that's how it is I'm going back to my room!"  
  
Feet pounded on the veranda outside Kaoru's door. "Kamiya-sensei! Are you all right!"  
  
Megumi pushed the shoji opened and strolled out of the bedroom. Enishi turned hot red as he took in her dishevelled appearance.  
  
"You...you!" he started, gripping the bodken clenched in his hands.  
  
Megumi yawned. "Well, I'm back to bed." she winked at Kaoru. "It was fun, Kao-san."  
  
"For you maybe." Kaoru levered herself to her feet with her bodken and would have pushed the shoji screen back into place had Enishi not stopped her.  
  
"What happened?" he asked her in a curiously calm tone of voice.  
  
Kaoru made a face. "Megumi crawled in my futon while I was asleep." she explained and was immediately rewarded by Enishi turning purple.  
  
"That... that..." Enishi began to tremble with the force of his anger and a lime green aura began to manifest around him.  
  
"Mou, I think you need some tea." Kaoru decided out loud and before Enishi could go after the shameless doctor she grabbed him by the back of the collar and drug him into the kitchen.  
  
***  
  
Tea did calm Enishi down, or maybe it was just having Kaoru to himself. Either way he was no longer experiencing homicidal urges by the time Kaoru excused herself to go change into her day-time clothes.  
  
He was still in the kitchen when Kaoru returned, trying and apron around her waist.  
  
"Going to start breakfast early?" he asked.  
  
"I won't be able to get back to sleep now if that's what you mean." Kaoru went over to the small cool cellar cabinet where she'd put aside the bentos she'd made the night before out of the leftover rice. If she started now she could put a nice namasu in each one along with the onigiri.  
  
A mouse scurried out as she lifted the door of the small cabinet.  
  
Enishi leapt up, grabbed a broom and pushed it outside. "Oh gross! We'll have to get a cat now!" he complained and slammed the door shut.  
  
Kaoru hurriedly pulled apart the bentos so find the extent of the damage-- it had only gotten to the green one lablled 'Kitsune' and even then it had only nibbled on one of the onigiri.  
  
Enishi checked over her shoulder. "I call that evidence of karma."  
  
Kaoru made a face. "I could have sworn I sealed that cabinet up tight before I went to bed last night." she checked the bottom and back of the cabinet, there were no holes chewed into the wood.  
  
'I would have noticed a mouse in there last night. How did it get in?' she wondered to herself.  
  
"Well, I'll make another onigiri with the breakfast rice." Kaoru picked out the bad onigiri and flicked off the spot the mouse had chewed on. "No sense in letting it go to waste." she reasoned.  
  
Enishi shook his head as Kaoru ate the rice ball in two bites. "I'll start the rice for you, how about that?" he offered.  
  
"Thank you!" Kaoru retrieved a wok from one of the over head cabinets and began looking around for the oil and white miso...  
  
'That's right, it stayed outside last night!' Kaoru thumped her fist into her palm as she remembered. she pushed the screen back open and stepped outside 'Well, no harm done. It's not like it...'  
  
Kaoru stopped cold. The mouse was lying on one of the stepping stones, stone cold dead. She went down on her knees beside it... there wasn't a mark on the poor little beast.  
  
"That's odd, then how did it..." Kaoru's hand flew to her mouth-- the onigiri! "ENISHI! GET MEGUMI!!!"  
  
***  
  
Megumi looked up from her mirror when she heard Kao-san bellow her name. She hurriedly finished tying her obi on and left her make up on the tiny vanity table even though she'd already started applying it.  
  
Enishi was at her door as soon as she opened it. "What's going on?" she asked the boy, but he looked clueless.  
  
"I don't know, we were making breakfast and then she starts yelling at me to go get you. Come on!"  
  
Megumi allowed herself to be hauled into the courtyard, where Kao-san was doubled up under a tree puking her guts out.  
  
She wrenched herself free of Enishi. "Get my medicine chest!" she ordered him and hurried to Kaoru's side. "Kao-san! What's wrong?"  
  
"P-poison!" Kaoru panted between hurls. "A mouse got into your bento and ruined an onigiri, I ate it instead of throwing it away... the mouse is dead; not a scratch on it."  
  
"Kao-san, show the me the mouse!" Megumi pled. Kaoru pointed a shaking hand to the walkway behind her. "All right, keep inducing vomiting until you have nothing left in your stomach!"  
  
Kaoru was already doing so.  
  
Megumi went over to the mouse and picked the tiny little body up. She examined it ruthlessly, there was pink foam at it's mouth and it's little eyes were weeping. It's little heart had stopped.  
  
Enishi reappeared with the medicine chest.  
  
"Water now, we need to flush out Kaoru's system." she snapped and went to the nauseated woman.  
  
When she checked, Megumi saw that Kaoru was down to the juices in her stomach. That was good, the acid in her digestive system would help kill any remaining traces of poison in her throat and mouth... but still. The mouse had died so quickly, some of the poison might be irrevocably in Kaoru's blood.  
  
When Enishi returned with the water Kaoru drank it down obediently and then forced herself to bring it back up, this process was repeated nearly four times before Megumi was happy.  
  
Enishi held her up when she was finally allowed to rest. Kaoru's strength was momentarily wiped out so he cradled her against his chest.  
  
"If it's not out now then there's nothing to be done." Megumi said quietly.  
  
"K-kaori.... where is she?" Kaoru asked hoarsely.  
  
"She spent the night at the Akabeko with Tsubame, remember?" Megumi said gently. She nodded towards the bedrooms. "Take her to her room, I'll clean out the kitchen."  
  
"Clean it out?"  
  
Megumi sighed. "The poison was probably meant just for me, since it was the bento Kaoru made for me that poisoned her, but we can't take the chance. All the food in the dojo is now suspect."  
  
"No, if they wanted everyone dead then they'd poison the well." Kaoru coughed. "They wouldn't have searched out the bentos."  
  
Of course, she couldn't tell them that while she was alone and puking that Raven had thoroughly checked the kitchen for anymore poison. The onigiri in Megumi's bento was the only thing.  
  
"That's no reason to take chances." Megumi pointed out. "Sano should be by in a little while, I'll get him to help me burn everything."  
  
Enishi bore Kaoru to her room and lay her down on the futon. "Now I bet you're really not going to get any sleep." he joked half heartedly.  
  
Kaoru made a face. "Bad joke, Yukishiro."  
  
"Is there anything you need?"  
  
"Yes, go help Megumi." Kaoru pulled the quilt up around her neck. "I don't need watching."  
  
"But if..."  
  
"But if I'm poisoned then there's nothing to be done. Git!"  
  
***  
  
Raven appeared the second Kaoru was alone and yanked back the covers.  
  
Kaoru rubbed at her eyes and sighed when the latina woman pushed her back on the futon and began ruthlessly examining her.  
  
"It won't kill you." was the pronouncement. "but unless I do something now, you won't be in any shape for your fight with the Oniwabanshuu."  
  
"Do?" Kaoru asked, un perturbed by Raven's announcement of her upcoming fight. "What are you going to do?"  
  
"Purge your system of course." Raven said as if that were the obvious answer. "Of course, you can't be in your body while I work on it, I might accidentally kill you."  
  
Kaoru's stress twitch made a grand reappearance. "And just where will I be if not in my body?"  
  
"In limbo." was all the warning Kaoru got before suddenly she was floating -up-.  
  
Kaoru was now -over- her body, which was lying on the ground with blank eyes like so much meat. Raven, who apparently could see her wiggled her fingers and a silver cord sprang to being connecting Kaoru to the Kaoru-meat.  
  
"Don't you wander too far now, I don't want to have to go looking for you." Raven cautioned her.  
  
'Wander?' Kaoru asked, but she might as well not have... she was being drawn elsewhere. She followed the call with curiosity, slowly her worry about the 'real world' faded and there was only the need to heed that call.  
  
There was someone who was waiting for her.  
  
She drifted beyond breath and between the air until she came to a place that seemed to be one inky void. A man sat there, in the very center.  
  
'I knew you'd come here eventually.' he said gruffly. 'Too bad you can't stay long.'  
  
'Where is this?' she asked.  
  
'It's where I said I would be waiting for you.' he heaved himself to him feet and approached her. 'Welcome to the very edge of hell.'  
  
Kaoru gasped, this man was Jin'eh!  
  
Death had changed him, his eyes were no long that inhuman white on black and his mouth was relaxed from that insane grin. He wore a white prison yukata and carried a katana against his shoulder with a ebony sheath.  
  
'You didn't recognize me.' he sounded pleased at the concept. 'I almost didn't recognize you. You must be nearly a decade younger in your temporal body.'  
  
'Temporal body?'  
  
He pointed at her with the sheathed sword and a reflective surface came into being in front of her. She choked.  
  
In the metallic surface she could see that she was indeed a teenager again. She was dressed in the yellow gi and blue hakama that she used to wear for kendo practice. Her clothes were badly damaged and bloodstained from where the fresh wound in her cheek bled freely.  
  
'So this is what you really look lie...' Jin'eh murmured and the mirror vanished. He turned aside and leaned the katana back against his shoulder. 'This place has a great view, you can see everything from here. Whatever you want; past, present, future. I've been amusing myself with yours.'  
  
Kaoru flinched. 'What have you seen?'  
  
'Many things, one in particular being a red-haired man with a scar like yours.' he pointed to the bleeding mark in question. 'Which I have seen you receive. I've also watched that man lock himself inside his mind and wrap chains around his sword when he failed you. Do you want to see this man?'  
  
'Kenshin!' Kaoru felt a peculiar pain where her heart should have been. 'Show him to me!'  
  
'Your time's running short.' Jin'eh observed.  
  
'I don't care, show him to me!'  
  
Jin'eh made a sweeping motion with his sword and the space before them was painted with colors and light. Kaoru gradually recognized what she was looking at. 'That's Rakuminmura, the place where homeless in Tokyo have to live.'  
  
'Ye-e-ssss.' Jin'eh hissed. 'That's where he is. Another one of me is there, watching him. He was here with me for a while, but he's gone to watch the man who defeated him leave this world.'  
  
Kaoru shuddered. 'I'm glad he isn't here.'  
  
'He's the reason you are immune to my shin-no-ipo.' Jin'eh agreed. 'At the time you were pathetic, but you still beat it. You aren't pathetic now, I'm not surprised it has no effect on you.'  
  
'Where's Kenshin?' Kaoru pressed.  
  
The scene scrolled along the homeless, helpless, and hopeless people in Rakuminmura until it came to rest on one rurouni leaning against a wall. His gi and hakama were even more worn and shabby looking than ever, his sword had been wrapped in chains, and his mouth was slack. The worst part however was his eyes... even the feral, golden eyes of Battousai hadn't frightened her as much as the blank, dead eyes of this empty husk of a man.  
  
'This was all so he wouldn't experience this.' Kaoru sobbed, she fell to her knees. 'Thirteen years, for nothing!'  
  
'No, not nothing.' Jin'eh said quietly and the scene changed. Kaori was sitting in front of a mirror, looking very put-upon as Tsubame fussed over her and attempted to tie her hair up in interesting and adult fashions.  
  
'Kaori...' Kaoru pressed a hand to her chest, the phantom pain had returned.  
  
'You can see the future from here, but you can also change it.' Jin'eh said cryptically. 'Just remember; if you go haring off to save him, then your little girl might never exist.'  
  
The pain became more intense and Kaoru cried out involuntarily.  
  
'Hmm, it's time to go back.' her companion sighed and picked her up. 'I'm tossing you back in this time, next time however...'  
  
...Kaoru couldn't...  
  
...stop...  
  
...falling...  
  
***  
  
Raven breathed a sigh of relief as Kaoru began choking on her own laboured breath. She sat back and wiped the sweat from her forehead as Kaoru started breathing normally, albeit with some effort.  
  
"You'll be fine now, although you'll have a short stint in bed with perhaps a mild fever but you be up and about again by tomorrow."  
  
"...yay..." she groaned. "...go...way..."  
  
Raven smiled perkily and soothed Kaoru's hair back. "You just rest now, nothing will happen while you're out."  
  
... but the Kenshi was already out cold.  
  
Raven glanced over her shoulder as she heard Megumi Takani approaching Kaoru's room.  
  
"... that stupid sword slinger, how could her just leave her alone? Serves him right to clear out the kitchen all on his own, leaving my darling Kao-chan to suffer..."  
  
The latina woman shook her head disparagingly and phased out of frequency with the dimensions of this time line that Megumi Takani would interact with. From here she could watch without being seen and protect her friend without being detected.  
  
She didn't, however, expect to be joined by another of her kind.  
  
A man with long, purple, bishonen hair and zesty green eyes appeared beside Raven and slipped an arm around her shoulder. "Is your Pet Project safe and sound?"  
  
Raven leaned into his embrace. "Ci, Gracias al Cielo." she sighed. "Have you found anything out about the Shy-side?"  
  
He shook his head. "Nothing so far, I have a few leads but I shouldn't mention them to you until I have concrete proof."  
  
Raven nodded. "I understand, Aiden."  
  
Aiden grinned at her and squeezed her shoulders. "It's not over yet, Ravvy!"  
  
"Call me Ravvy one more time and you will never have to worry about illegitimate children." Raven growled at the overly-familiar man.  
  
***  
  
It was nearly midnight by the time Kaoru woke up. She felt six shades of godawful.  
  
"You're awake,then."  
  
Kaoru glanced at Sanosuke, who was sitting on the veranda outside her open door, watching the stars. She rolled to her feet and went out to join him. "How long have you been there?" she asked.  
  
"Not long." he replied. "I only woke up a few hours ago, I had a late night at the Kogane."  
  
Kaoru pointedly did not ask. Instead she leaned back against the wall behind her and let out a slow sigh.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Sanosuke asked.  
  
"Good, a lot better than this morning."  
  
"Megitsune said that might be the case, but you're still supposed to take it easy. I think she's still feeling cagey about that sword fight with Ugly-hat." Sanosuke told her. "Kaori came home and found you sick, I only just got her to leave your side and go to bed."  
  
Kaoru smiled. "I'll go see her then." she stood up and went quietly to her daughter's room where a light was still burning.  
  
Kaoru rapped quietly on the wooden frame of the shoji screen enclosing Kaori. "Musume? Are you up?"  
  
An explosion of sound from the inside, the screen flew back from Kaoru's fingers and Kaori launched herself at her mother. "You're okaaaaaayyyy!!!!" she sobbed into Kaoru's waist. "I thought you were going to die!"  
  
Kaoru wrapped her hands around her daughter's shoulders. "Not this time." she promised. "Not this time."  
  
*********  
End chapter Ten  
*********  
Seiyuu; (Kaoru voice over) Next time on Ronin Kaoru, the shadow Elite! Battle the Oniwabanshuu!  
  
^.^¿ I'm pathetic. 


	12. Chapter Xl Timing is Everything

*********  
Chapter Eleven; Timing is Everything  
*********  
  
Sir, you are tough, and I am tough  
but who will write who's epitaph?  
  
-Joseph Brodesky -'sir, you are Tough'  
  
*********  
  
"You want -how- much?" Sanosuke asked in surprise.  
  
"Eighteen sen."  
  
"Why don't you ask your Kaa-chan?"  
  
"But Sanoooo!" Kaori whined, tugging on the older man's sleeve. "It's really important and you can't tell Kaa-chan!"  
  
Sanosuke scowled looking meaner than he felt. "Your Kaa-chan gives you pocket money, and while I don't mind spotting you some I think I at least deserve to know why."  
  
"Kaa-chan gave me allowance this morning, but it's not enough." Kaori looked around furitivly, in case her mother happened to be around. "There's a festival tonight and Tsubame doesn't have money to spare. Her pay check from the Akabeko only just covers her rent and food. Everything she's saving up is going for a new kimono."  
  
"Kaori, that's not a selfish cause." Sanosuke told the girl in amusement. "Kaoru would undoubtedly give you some extra."  
  
"I can't ask Kaa-chan for more money, I already get a bigger allowance than most kids in the street!" Kaori's tone made this benevolence of her mother's seem like a crime (who knows what ten-year-olds think?) "I'll clean your apartment!"  
  
"You -are- serious!" Sanosuke chortled at Kaori's antics. If he lent Kaori the money and let Kaoru know about it then she would make up the difference.... but still, if he could get a clean apartment out of this and make the runt get used to working for her money... heck, sometimes being a surrogate big brother had its advantages.  
  
"Okay, Jou-chan." Sanosuke reached into his money belt and counted out some sen. "You take Tsubame out and show her a real good time."  
  
Kaori stared at the money in her hands. "Sano! This is nearly thirty sen!" tears gathered in her eyes and she threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Sano-nii-chan!"  
  
Sanosuke laughed. "Hey, you're gonna work for it remember? Cleaning that apartment of mine for only eighteen sen would be criminal..."  
  
He stifled his laughter as Kaori's face fell.  
  
"Maybe I should go and start now... especially if I want to be able to get a bath before the festival..." she worried out loud.  
  
Sanosuke got to his feet and ruffled her hair. "You work it out, I know your Kaa-chan has a key to my apartment. If she asks, tell her you lost a bet with me and have to clean the place up. That'll be almost true."  
  
Kaori got up and scurried off to ferret the money away where ever it was that she kept her important things. Sanosuke snickered evilly as she left.  
  
"I heard the whole thing." Kaoru commented from around the corner, Sanosuke peeked over at her and found her sitting on the veranda watching fish for supper grill.  
  
"Didya?" Sanosuke chuckled and went to join her. "It's no crime that the kid wants to feel she's earned her money."  
  
"I didn't say that I didn't approve of it." Kaoru smiled smugly at Kaori's behaviour. "In fact I'm proud of her, but thirty sen is an awful lot of money to give a child for cleaning your apartment."  
  
"You've never been to my apartment have you?" Sanosuke asked skeptically and Kaoru frowned.  
  
"There's nothing in there that will hurt her is there?" she asked in a dangerous tone of voice.  
  
"Nah, I killed the thing in my closet this morning." Sanosuke laughed. "Still can't figure out what it was..."  
  
"Probably laundry taken on a life of it's own." Kaoru groused. "Oh well, she can defend herself..."  
  
"That's the spirit!" Sanosuke congratulated her and then looked around. "Oi, where's Megitsune?"  
  
"She's helping out at Dr. Genzai's Clinic, Enishi is with her in case there's another... incident like the day before yesterday."  
  
"That reminds me." Sanosuke remembered. "When are we gonna go after the guys who had Megitsune? My buddies finished checking out the losers who were chasing her; they were the personal bodyguards of Kanryuu Takeda."  
  
"Hmmm." Kaoru bent her head down and fanned the fire underneath the fish. "It is coming to a head, isn't it? Maybe I should go have a visit with Mr. Takeda after supper. Would you like to stay here and keep an eye on the Dojo for me?"  
  
"You mean make sure none of Kanryuu's goons comes to borrow Megumi while you're out. I got a better idea, I'll go get Saitou to bring his family over to visit and I'll go with you."  
  
Kaoru pursed her lips. "That would be wise, I will probably need backup."  
  
***  
  
"I must say, you're quite talented." Dr. Genzai complimented Megumi as he examined a broken bone she had just finished setting and bracing. "Who were you apprenticed under?"  
  
Megumi flushed. "Ah... no one you've met. He passed away recently."  
  
Dr. Genzai lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, that's a shame. He must have really been something."  
  
"Oh he was something, all right." Megumi agreed with a strained smile. "but he was a busy man and I did most of my studying out of books and observation. He was, however, an expert on western chemical medicines... except that he had the same English fondness for dosing almost all his patients with laudanum whether or not they needed it."  
  
Dr. Genzai tsked. "Laudanum is fine drug, in and of itself but it really is over diagnosed these days. Especially in the cases of women, isn't that your area of speciality?" he asked her.  
  
Megumi blushed, this time in pleasure. "Well, usually women -are- misdiagnosed. For example oftentimes when a woman goes to a western doctor with complications after a preganacy she is often diagnosed as having a 'nervous disease' and given opiates. In my own clinic back in the Okubansho I became very familiar with the problems of women and am finding other methods of treatment. I hope to publish my findings in a medical journal one day."  
  
"That is a noble cause." Dr. Genzai congratulated her. "I've noticed much the same thing and while I haven't had a concentrated clientele like you have I have come up with a few myself. I shall lend you my notes!"  
  
The two doctors shared a smile and Dr. Genzai trundled off to retrieve the promised notes, leaving Megumi to finish up with her patient. Of course, all she really had to do was watch the plaster on the man's cast dry.  
  
Her area of study was something she hadn't even talked to Kao-san about before, but in this setting with another Doctor who was honestly interested in his patients' well being she found her dreams spilling forth.  
  
She knew that she had something of a notoriety in Medical Circles; they called her the Whore Doctor, but honestly she did it because no one else would. Even in supposedly 'civilized' countries most doctors, even the rare female ones, would refuse to treat whores. Of course in those 'civilized' countries a woman was so very lucky to complete her medical degree and find work that she wouldn't dare risk her reputation by treating a Lady o' the Hour.  
  
The true horror of the whole deal was that even though those women, when they were treated, were misdiagnosed because their true problems were what they were doing to themselves. It wasn't an uncommon practice for a whore, or regular woman for that matter, to dose herself with arsenic or lead to enhance her complexion and keep weight off. Belladonna was used to make the eyes brighter and shiner, and most white facial power included mercury. To achieve that 'misty' and 'detached appearance, Geishas and whores would often smoke a sticky ball of opium before greeting their customers.   
  
No one would take the time to teach these women that what they did to their bodies was slowly killing them and even those who were wise enough to avoid those traps often died of easily treated diseases. All because no doctor wanted to risk their reputation and treat them.  
  
"Here they are!" Dr. Genzai announced and lay a sheaf of papers in Megumi's lap. "There you go! See if our research cooraborates on any level?"  
  
"Hey! Can I come back inside now?" Enishi called from the front yard.  
  
"No you can't, young man!" Dr. Genzai yelled back. "You do more damage than you prevent! I realize you're here to guard Miss Takani but you're doing a better job of it out there!"  
  
Megumi stifled a smug laugh; it was true. Enishi had already scared every child in the waiting room, dropped countless bottles of medicine, and even caused Dr. Genzai to reopen a wound that he'd been removing the stitches from. Now he was exiled from the clinic and being tormented by Ayame and Suzume's loving attentions.  
  
But still, he did mean well and Megumi knew he disliked her because of their rivalry for dear Kao-san. Maybe it was time to take pity of the poor boy. "I'll go read this outside, he'll feel better if he can see me."  
  
"Of course, but before you do could you fetch some water from the well out back?" the old man asked.  
  
"Right away." Megumi tucked the papers into her sleeve and went into the back.  
  
Thok!  
  
A kunai thudded into the wood door frame as soon as she shut the door. Megumi regarded it with annoyance. This was getting to be an annoying re-occurance.  
  
"This had better not be another sick love-lorn psychopath after my Kao-san." she muttered darkly as she opened up the letter attached to the kunai.  
  
She blanched as she read the note.  
  
'Little Fox-chan, you've been away from home so long! I miss you very much, I am consumed with it. I'm afraid your little vacation is over now, it's time to come back. If you'd like to be reasonable, someone will be waiting for you in the back of the rundown Dojo where you're staying. If you don't plan on being reasonable, however, that person may just burn down a few buildings with some loveable, big eyed children in it. It's really up to you my dear.  
  
Your Devoted Slave,  
Kanryuu Takeda.'  
  
***  
"You want me to what?"  
  
Sanosuke spat out the fish bone he was chewing on (the remains of a fish that didn't make it as far as Kaoru's wonderful fish dinner). "You heard me Spider-face. Kaoru needs you to watch the Dojo for her tonight.  
  
Saitou leaned back in his desk chair and lit a cigarette. "Why should I?"  
  
"I have no clue, but she's hoping you will."  
  
Saitou snorted a cloud of smoke in annoyance. "All right, let's put it this way; Where is she going to be that she needs me, of all people, to watch over her boarders?"  
  
Sanosuke smirked. "Me an her are going to go have a talk with Kanryuu Takeda about trying to poison members of her household."  
  
"The Kanyruu Takeda?" Saitou chuckled. "And just what has she gotten herself into this time?"  
  
"We don't know, and Kaoru says it's none of our damn business." Sanosuke said drolly. "but Megumi went missing for a few days and then ran into Kaoru on the street with some thugs chasing her, one claiming she was his crazy run-away wife. I found out through the grape-vine that the jerks were some of Kanryuu's bodyguards."  
  
"Interesting... I'm afraid Tokio and the children are out of town visiting her parents. I suppose a lonely working husband might tire of his own cooking and go to stay with friends for a while..." Saitou took a drag on his cigarette. "When?"  
  
"Kaoru's making supper right now, you're invited by the way, she and I are gonna slip out afterwards." Sanosuke grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "It would be worth it just to get the meal, Kaoru's a great cook."  
  
*A.N* Thought you'd never hear Sano say that, huh?^.^¿  
  
***  
  
Megumi had shredded the tiny note as soon as she'd read it, but the words were forever etched into her memory, accompanied by Kanryuu's lilting, boyish tones.  
  
'that person may just burn down a few buildings with some loveable, big eyed children in it'  
  
She knew who 'that person' would be; cold, heartless Aoshi Shinomori, the Leader of Kanryuu's most cut throat thugs; the Oniwabanshuu.  
  
Supper was drawing to an agonising close. Kaori, Enishi, and Yahiko were absent, at the Star gazing Festival, and that strange police officer was visiting that night. She vaguely remembered Kaoru explaining to her and Enishi that his wife was out of town for a while (all the while wearing that loveable smile that made Megumi want the squeeze her tight and never let go.)  
  
'Kao-san can protect me from anything and anyone, but she can't stop them from hurting others.' Megumi thought numbly as she watched Kaoru and Saitou making odd small talk with almost identical expressions; sunny closed eyes and small ironic smiles on their lips. 'She'll worry herself sick after I'm gone unless I defuse her suspicions.'  
  
"Do you want some more soup, Megumi?" Kaoru asked her suddenly, startling Megumi out of her sad reverie.  
  
"Please!" Megumi held out her bowl, after all this would be the last time she'd ever eat something that her darling Kao-san had made with her own hands.  
  
Kaoru ladled some broth into her bowl and handed it back to her. "So who is Kanryuu threatening to send after you?"  
  
Megumi nearly dropped her bowl, she tried to cover up her unpleasant surprise with a haughty laugh. "Why, Kao-san! Whatever do you mean? Didn't we say that Kanryuu gave up on me a long time ago?"  
  
The police officer, Goro Fujita raised an eyebrow. "Ah. So it -is- Kanryuu Takeda who is after you. I assume then, that you were the doctor he had formulating that refined opium for him."  
  
Megumi choked on her own breath. "I didn't! I- I ran away!"  
  
"Maa-maa!" Sanosuke consoled her. "No one is saying you did it because you wanted to."  
  
"Megumi-chan?"  
  
Kaoru's simple pronunciation of her name (plus an endearment! YAY!) crumbled Megumi's resolve and the story came rushing out of her accompanied heavily by tears; unfortunately she was crying so hard that no one understood a word she said. Kaoru left her supper tray and came to let Megumi sob into her shoulder until the worst of the storm passed.  
  
"It was the doctor I was apprenticed to!" she confessed with a hiccup from left over tears, Kao-san still had a supportive arm around her and Megumi cuddled into her side. Even traumatized, she wasn't one to lose a chance to get close to the normally homophobic Kaoru.  
  
"He developed the new type of opium; it's a small white powder that can be manufactured cheaply and doesn't need to be smoked. It's also twice as powerful as the old opium so its even easier to overdose. If it got out to the public the casualties would be catastrophic since Kanryuu can get normal people addicted to it by passing it off as normal medicine. Unfortunately for him, my predecessor burned his notes before Kanryuu had him killed so I'm the only one who knows the refining process. For a while Kanryuu thought his opium was gone and went back to the old process until it occurred to him that I might know; by then I had gotten my license to practice medicine and opened my clinic underneath the Kogane. When Kanryuu's men kidnapped me, Sanosuke noticed I was missing and came looking for me bringing Kao-san into the search. It was actually pure coincedance that I bumped into her on the street when I was running away from my 'escort'."  
  
"How much of the opium did you make?" Saitou asked her.  
  
"Not much, some of it got out onto the streets before I escaped. Kanryuu had made me make up about twenty doses before that, I took five with me and tossed them in a fire at a shinto shrine." Megumi admitted. "but now I have to go back..."  
  
"What has he threatened to do?" Kaoru asked gently.  
  
"He sent me a note at Dr. Genzai's clinic today. He has someone waiting for me and if I don't go then that person will start killing at random." Megumi felt Kao-san stiffen beside her then a tap on the back of her neck...  
  
***  
  
Kaoru leaned the unconscious woman back onto the floor, Saitou was already out of the room, presumably to carry out 'Aku soku zan' on whoever it was Kanryuu had sent to take Megumi back. More likely he'd wound them, question them, arrest them, and have the other policemen take them away.  
  
'I hope it isn't Hanya or Beshimi.' Kaoru thought angrily. 'I've got plans involving the Oniwabanshuu. I'll be damned if I let Kanryuu kill them all again. I'd never be able to look Misao in the eye again.'  
  
"Looks like we picked a good night to inform Kanryuu of the error of his ways." Sanosuke grumbled. He knelt down a brushed a lock of Megumi's hair away from her face. "Can I kill him?"  
  
"You know I can't say yes." Kaoru chided him and Sanosuke pouted. "You may however break every bone in his body as long as he survives the experience... once I've finished with him."  
  
*AN* I dunno about you guys but I would not want to be Kanryuu right now. ô_ô¿  
  
Saitou returned a short time later bearing with him a beat, bloody little thug. He introduced him as 'Makoto Kanzaki, petty larsonist and arsonist.'  
  
Under the Wolf's loving attentions, Makoto soon was telling them everything from the fact that Kanryuu had the Oniwabanshuu personally guarding his body from his rivals 24/7 at the moment to the fact that he (Kanryuu) liked wearing women's kimonos and posed as a call-girl in his free time. O_o  
  
And so, now fully armed with mostly information of little consequence, Sanosuke and Kaoru set off for Kanryuu's estate, leaving Saitou behind to guard Megumi.  
  
***********  
End Chapter Eleven  
***********  
Seiyuu; Oops, reached my 3000 word limit before getting to the mansion. Darn. Sorry for the late update folks! Blame it on bad food and a loud party.  
  
I'm fine... now. 


	13. Chapter Xll Omniscience in Action

***********  
Chapter Twelve; Omnipotence in Action  
***********  
  
What is our innocence,  
what is our guilt? All are  
naked, none is safe. and whence  
is courage: the unanswered question,  
the resolute doubt,---  
dumbly calling, deafly listening--- that  
is misfortune, even death,  
encourages others  
and in defeat, stirs   
the soul to be strong?  
-Marianne Moore from 'What are Years?'  
  
***********  
  
There was an unattural rustling in the trees lining the edges of the broadway leading up to the gates of Kanryuu's mansion.  
  
Kaoru listened casually and watched out of the corners of her eyes. It must be Beshimi, she reasoned, Hanya would never be that clumsy.  
  
... although she did recall Beshimi as being a small, light-weight man and nearly as quiet as the Second in Command of the Oniwabanshuu.  
  
"There's a monkey in the trees." Sanosuke said to her in an undertone, not pausing in his lanky strides. The wrought-iron gates of the main courtyard were coming into view now. "Think it might be one of Kanryuu's pet ninjas?"  
  
"No." Kaoru replied quietly. "Too clumsy, otherwise they want us to know they're there."  
  
The rustling stopped and Kaoru ceased her walking. Sanosuke stopped as well. "What's up?" he asked her.  
  
"We have a visitor." Kaoru glanced towards the last tree to have rustled and a slender shadow separated itself from that of the tree. Kaoru could see the wicked edge of several kunai glinting in her hands. "How may we help you?"  
  
"You can tell me why you're going to fight Aoshi-sama." A young girl emerged from the shadows, her expression was angry... and hurt.  
  
"I think you know why, young Lady." Kaoru replied gently. "You're one of the Kyoto Oniwabanshuu, aren't you?"  
  
"Misao Makimachi." she said bluntly. "It's not Aoshi-sama's fault, he couldn't have known what a..."  
  
Kaoru held up a hand. "It's not my concern whether he is or not, I'm here to make sure Kanryuu leaves a friend of mine alone. I have nothing against your Aoshi-sama."  
  
The kunai disappeared and Misao heaved a sigh. "I-I... just don't kill any of the Ninjas here, please?"  
  
Sanosuke burst out laughing. "Hey, weasel-girl! Don't you know who you're talking to? This is the Raiden-no-Onna... uff!"  
  
"I hate that name." Kaoru gritted at Sanosuke as she removed her elbow from his stomach. "Never call me that again."  
  
"O-okay!"  
  
Misao cocked an eyebrow. "Raiden-no-Onna?" she blinked and then gasped. "Oh! I thought you were a man!"  
  
Kaoru had sudden, violent thoughts of letting Kanryuu have free reign with his gatling gun.  
  
Misao blushed at the expression on Kaoru's face. "Ah... of course I've heard of you, you're the Swordswoman who won't kill. Your entire swords style is centered around that. So you won't kill Aoshi-sama and the others?" she sighed. "Thank goodness... I was afraid that... you see I've heard that..." she blushed. "Just, never mind me. I convinced myself that they would die tonight." she conked herself on the head. "Silly me, thinking my dreams were reality."  
  
Kaoru went very, very still. "You had a dream in which your friends died?"  
  
Misao blushed. "Uh, yes... I dreamed that this skinny gaijin turned a big gun on them and... hey! Why am I telling you this!"  
  
"Because I believe you." Kaoru approached Misao slowly. "Do you normally have prophetic dreams?"  
  
"Uh... not often and never anything really useful..." Misao stammered.  
  
"I think we can help each other..."  
  
***  
  
"Megumi Takani's house mates are approaching the compound."  
  
Aoshi didn't even look up as Hanya reported through the window, hanging upside down like a bat. "Let them come through Kanryuu's goons. I doubt they will make it as far as the hall gauntlet, but position the others anyway."  
  
"Raiden is one of those among them, sir." Hanya said quietly. "That is one that will not go down easily. No one really knows the full extent of her power since she has not exerted herself since she came to our attention."  
  
Aoshi cocked an eyebrow. "I had thought that she was content to wait for us to make our play?" he said skeptically. "That was your opinion when you saw her fight Kurogasa."  
  
"I have gotten word of an instance of poisoning in her household. She believes we are responsible for attempting to kill Megumi Takani."  
  
The leader of ninjas frowned. "Kanryuu would not order her death without losing his temper first, he's too enamored of the money she'd bring him with that new opium. One of his enemies perhaps?"  
  
"Or one of Raiden's." Hanya speculated. "For either reason she is here and ready to make her point."  
  
Aoshi nodded. "Indeed, we can benefit from this however. She is a worthy opponent. Beshimi, Hyottoko, and Shikijo are spoiling for want of a decent fight. Decent fights with decent opponents are an uncommon commodity in these circles. Were it not for that damn contract we signed with Kanryuu I would have pulled out of here before now." he sighed and wished for a cup of hot tea and time to relax and enjoy it. "Station Shikijo at the gates, have a group of Kanryuu's 'men' stationed in the main courtyard with Hyottoko, put the rest at the base of the grand stairwell with Beshimi in the eaves, and you go into the hall before the ball room. I will be in the ballroom itself."   
  
"Do you not think that she might get as far as you or I?" Hanya asked.  
  
"I doubt it. No matter what rumours say about her, she is still a mere woman with a brothel bouncer as back up." Aoshi shut the account books he'd been examining. Soon they would have ammassed enough capital to tide his men over in a nice hot springs inn somewhere while he searched out new and better employment for them. He massaged the spot between his eyes, he should have known better than to hire out to a common crook, but bills had been piling up... almost bad enough to send them back to the Aoiya for a spell.  
  
'No more bodyguarding for money-grubbing insects like Kanryuu.' he promised himself. He felt filthy and imagined that his men felt the others felt much the same way. It would take a long time before he'd feel able to look Misao in the eye after this... if he ever felt cleansed enough to set foot in the Aoiya again, that is.  
  
"Famous last words, Okashira." Hanya said quietly and vanished before Aoshi could reprimand him for his impudence.  
  
***  
  
Kaoru and Sanosuke parted ways with Misao almost immediately. Sano was obviously a little sulky about Kaoru having trusted the little ninja with her knowledge of the compound, but if he had something to say, he kept it to himself. He was also a little disturbed at some of the things she' predicted would happen... but he was getting used to the fact that Kaoru had a preternatural knowledge the the world around her. It wasn't as if that was the weirdest thing about her.  
  
The gates loomed up before them. A man in dusky red stood on top of one brick pillars flanking the fancifully twisting gates. His skin was a sort of juandinced yellow decorated by many scars and stretched over impressive muscles. He held a chain over one shoulder, it was stretched taunt and disappeared behind the wall.  
  
"Hey! Are you pedestrians or the losers come to challenge the indefeatable Oniwabanshuu?" he hollared at them as they approached.  
  
Kaoru smiled up at him and bowed politely. "Ninja-san, could you please tell Takeda-san that we have business with him?"  
  
"That depends on the business." he replied dubiously. "Are you or ain't you the guys coming to challenge us?"  
  
"We ain't here for you losers." Sanosuke spat. "Unless of course you guys tried to poison Megitsune all on your own."  
  
The man laughed and spat. "I'm Shikijo of the Oniwabanshuu, ex Dungeon Master of Edo castle. I got my orders, if you want to go splat that little creep what's hired us I wouldn't stand in your way but Okashira says goes. You want in this place, you're going to have to go through me." He heaved on the chain and a large metal ball sprang up into the air.  
  
Shikijo heaved it around in a circle and then brought it smashing down onto the ground where Kaoru and Sanosuke had been standing minutes before.  
  
Neither were hurt, having moved away well in time to avoid the crushing blow. Shikijo seemed impressed, glad even. "Hey!" he laughed. "You two ain't the insects I thought you were... especially you." he pointed at Sanosuke.  
  
The street fighter chuckled a little at being placed over Kaoru in consideration, but didn't make a point of it. "I could say the same for you." he punched his palms and grinned up at the ninja. "I gotta say, it's been a while since I've had even a halfway decent fight." he grinned at his companion. "Kaoru here's been having all the fun. Mind if I take him on myself?" he asked her.  
  
Kaoru nodded and smiled indulgently. "Just don't take to much time about it, we still have a long way to go." she moved a considerate distance away and leaned against a tree, tucking both her arms into the opposite's sleeve.  
  
"Kaoru.. hey, ain't that a girl's name?" Shikijo squinted at Kaoru. "Hey! Wait a minute here, you ain't a guy!"  
  
Kaoru scowled at him. "On second thought, Sano, tear him apart!"  
  
Sano nodded gravely and cracked his knuckles. "Sorry man, but there are some things you don't say to a lady. I'm gonna have to kick your ass now."  
  
"Hah, funny!" Shikijo taunted. "I said you weren't an insect but that doesn't mean that I can't squash ...." here he was cut off by Sanosuke's foot in his face.  
  
The moral of this story; Do not taunt, people who taunt tend to get creamed in mid-taunt.  
  
Shikijo hit the ground with a thud! And Sanosuke sighed, cracking his knuckles again. "Jeez, what a pathetic fight! If he'd shut his yap I could have had some more fun!" he complained to Kaoru, who patted his shoulder consolingly.  
  
"That's all right, Sano. There are others here to beat up."  
  
Sanosuke brightened. "Hey! That's right!" he grinned at Kaoru. "You always know just how to cheer me up. Can I have the next guy too?"  
  
"Of course, dear." Kaoru promised.  
  
The fighters easily scaled the first gate and made it to the second in record time. This gate was more formidable than the first, being made of thick wood and banded with iron. Before it stood roughly ten or more common goons and one huge man with a barrel strapped to his back.  
  
"Halt, you go no farther!" the big one bellowed. "I saw you beat up Shikijo, I ain't such a pushover and now I gotta make you pay for hurting him!"  
  
"Be careful." Kaoru warned Sanosuke. "This one looks to have a trick up his sleeve."  
  
"Or strapped to his back. You get the little guys, you don't need to be exerting yourself yet." Sanosuke waved at the big guy. "Hey, I'm your opponent! Never mind Kao-chan, she's just gonna clear the field for us!"  
  
"The little broad can wait until I'm done with you, I'm Hyottoko!" as the big man talked his talk, Sanosuke noticed that he had the -wierdest- teeth; all gums except for two little buck teeth in the center on the top and bottom gums. Congenital Syphilis maybe?  
  
(congenital syphilis affects the teeth and gums in some strange ways. In some cases the person could be mistaken for a vampire, but other times we get a case like Hyottoko.)  
  
"Yip, yip, yip." Sanosuke muttered. "You Oniwabanshuu guys talk too much." he took a stance. "Let's go, man."  
  
He saw Kaoru start in on the little guys out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't going nearly as fast as normal and seemed to be taking the time to enjoy herself. 'She's not using that Denkousekka of hers. She must not be worried about...'  
  
(Denkousekka- lightning speed. Nothing special.)  
  
The rise in temperature sweeping across his skin was the only warning Sanosuke got, he leapt to the side missing the gout of fire issuing from Hyottoko's mouth.  
  
Hyottoko laughed as Sanosuke cursed and beat at a small flame that had caught on his hair. "Ya should really pay more attention to your own fights than your girlfriend's!"  
  
Sanosuke succeeded in dousing his hair and wiped a bandaged wrist across his chin. "You think me an Kaoru are going steady? Well thanks for the compliment bud." he allowed himself a cocky grin, but it hid dark thoughts. 'He's right, I was more interested in watching hers than my own, gotta quit that. Kaoru can take care of herself. How the heck's he doing that? Ok, let's try this one more time; paying attention!'  
  
Sanosuke took a stance, not normal procedure for him since he usually liked to charge right in. In cases such as this, however, he'd learned the hard way to stay back, defend himself first, and observe. It had taken two months of beatings from Anji to get the point across, but it had struck root. speaking of Anji...  
  
'I wonder if I'm gonna have to use some of the tricks I've picked up in this fight, not the Futae no Kiwami. That's going after a cockroach with a sledge hammer-- but maybe...'  
  
"Ready to burn?" Hyottoko chortled. "I'll give you a choice; Roasted or grilled!" with that he brought his teeth together so hard they drew sparks and let loose with another gale of flame.  
  
Sanosuke dodged again with much room to spare and darted behind the large ninja. Unbeknownst to Hyottoko, he wore an unholy grin on his face; he'd figured out his game plan.  
  
"Hey, where'd you go?" Hyottoko demanded just as Sanosuke jumped onto the large wooden barrel strapped onto the man's back.  
  
On the sidelines, surrounded by unconscious bodies, Kaoru smiled. This fight was over.  
  
"Koenken!" Sanosuke muttered as he wrapped his legs around Hyottoko's throat and crammed an arm down his cavernous throat. Fierce amusment appeared on his face as he found his target, but Kaoru signaled him from the sideleines as he started to pull his prize out.  
  
Hyottoko started gagging as Kaoru gave a definate head-shake and Sanosuke released the big man. He leapt off the man's back, just into for the giant to come crashing to ground... unconscious from oxygen deprivation.  
  
Kaoru darted over and laid her head against Hyottoko's chest-- yes, there was a heart beat but she checked for a pulse just the same. "He'll live." was her pronouncment. "and I imagine he'll come round rather soon. Help me turn him on his side so he won't do something like swallow his tongue while he sleeps."  
  
Sanosuke grudgingly helped, but still gave the ninja a fond punch on the shoulder before they left.  
  
"There's one I wouldn't mind at my back." he confided to Kaoru. "Actually, if we weren't on opposite sides I could get to like all these Oniwabanshuu guys. We think on the same level."  
  
Kaoru smiled. "Indeed, I can see that strength is important to them." she gestured towards the entrance. "Shall we?"  
  
"Yeah, and that last one was pissed because his friend got beaten... you don't normally see a cohesive unit of fighters these days. They're usually all just a bunch of crooks out to cause some trouble and only concerned with number one." Sanosuke frowned and kicked the great double doors to the mansion open. "So what the hell are they doing here?"  
  
"Even ninjas have to eat." Kaoru supposed. "I imagine that Kanryuu is paying them insane amounts of..." she snapped her bodken up to deflect a tiny pellet aimed at her head. "This one is mine, Sano. You get the little guys." she nodded to the knot of men before them. They were clustered around the base of a huge staircase.  
  
"Gotcha!" Sanosuke rumbled and grinned. "Have fun!"  
  
***  
  
"Shinomori!"  
  
Aoshi hid a mental twinge as Kanryuu's squawkish voice assaulted his ultra-sensitive ears. "Yes, sir?" he asked coolly, nearly choking on the western honorific.  
  
"What in hell do you think you're doing?" the gawky drug-merchant demanded. "Who told you that you could turn my mansion into a staging ground? I thought I told you to retreive Megumi Takani!"  
  
"There are intruders on the compound." Aoshi reported tonelessly, really he wanted nothing more than to take his kodachi and ensure that the line of Takeda would never continue... but pride goeth before a fall, he cautioned himself. "They are the Kenshin that Takani is staying with, they came presumably to ensure that you leave the woman be."  
  
Kanryuu, inherent coward that he was, paled at the idea of being faced with someone even marginally adept in a fight. "Well, what are you waiting for!? Kill them!"  
  
"We are doing so." Aoshi retorted in that same monotone and after a pause he added. "Sir."  
  
Kanryuu bristled, and Aoshi gave a mental sigh. The crime lord had never been good at treating his underlings with respect, even if they were capable of castrating him so fast he wouldn't even feel it.  
  
"I don't like you attitude." Kanryuu snarled. "You'd better watch yourself, Shinomori, or you never know what might happen to you or your men."  
  
Suddenly there was a naked blade at Kanryuu's throat and he found himself face to face with a pair of icy blue eyes. "Perhaps you are the one who should watch himself." Aoshi suggested in the same tone he'd been using to report to Kanryuu. "This is fair warning, as soon as we have dealt with these intruders, I am tendering my resignation and taking my Oniwabanshuu away."  
  
"W-what are you saying!?" Kanryuu stammered. "I'll increase your salary!"  
  
"You just don't get it!" Aoshi growled, emotion began seeping through his facade. He shoved Kanryuu to the ground. "No one threatens my men. Consider yourself lucky that I haven't killed you."  
  
***  
  
Kaoru's eyes were glued to the small shadow flitting through the eaves, yet she still managed to bat away the pellets that were flung at her as well as a few meant for Sano.  
  
Damn, he was so well out of her reach on the ceiling that he could just stay up there all day, cozily flinging metal bullets at her until she became to tired to deflect them.  
  
'Either I have to go to him... or make him come to me.' and idea struck her as she noticed the large chandelier hanging in the center of the room and Kaoru ran for a corner of the room furthest from Beshimi. It was also the corner in which the anchor for the chandelier could be found. She saw Beshimi leap lightly onto the chandelier as she moved out of his range.  
  
Sanosuke dropped the last of his opponents just as the chandelier and Beshimi hit the ground. He caught the little man and twisted his arms around his back as Kaoru ran towards him.  
  
"You two may have defeated me, but Okashira will kill you both!" he growled at them.  
  
Kaoru shrugged. "Perhaps, but I hope not. Under different circumstances I would be proud to have the Oniwabanshuu at my side." she smiled at the stunned ninja. "Sorry about this." she reached into a sleeve and withdrew a coil of rope. She began tying some expert knots around the little man.   
  
"I know that you'll get out of this with great ease, but I can't afford to have you, of all the Oniwbanshuu, incapacitated." she explained as she worked. "Your Leader will need you shortly, I know you do not want to fail him."  
  
"What are you talking about woman!" Beshimi demanded, just before Sanosuke gagged him.  
  
"She knows everything." he told the captive. "... or at least it seems that way.  
  
Kaoru stood, dusted off her hands and bowed to Beshimi. "Besides, if I really hurt you Misao would never forgive me." she rubbed the back of her head in memory of past 'demon bird kicks' that she'd seen Kenshin receive.  
  
Beshimi went still with shock and watched as the two fighters proceeded to the next course of the gauntlet.  
  
*******  
End chapter Twelve  
*******  
Seiyuu; Hehehe, I'm having fun with this part! Um, here's an overview of the attacks used by our heros in this chapter.  
  
denkousekka - lightning speed  
  
Kaoru's 'super speed' isn't as fast as the the Hiten Mitsurugi's God-like speed and no where near Soujiro's speed (I forget what fancy name he has for it), but she is faster than most kids on the block. Unlike Kenshin and Soujiro who seem to disappear the eye can still register Kaoru as a black and blue blur thus implying that she is slower.  
  
koenken - Tiger Swallow Fist   
  
This is basically Sanosuke getting up in someone's face, cramming his fist down their throat and gagging them. This is usually an attack with a specific goal in mind , like retreiving the bag of acclerant in Hyottoko's stomach but if Sano is getting really serious he fires a blast of ki down his opponent's throat.  
This attack is also in another form of martial arts (i don't know which) but I imagine it takes a more noble form than Sano's version. 


	14. Chapter Xlll Siege Machine

*********  
Chapter Thirteen; Siege Machine  
*********  
  
"There are problems in these times,  
but, whoo!, none of them are mine!  
Oh, baby, I'm beginning to see the light."   
~The Velvet Underground  
  
***  
  
*AN* Thanks to Omochi and Shojin Takeru for the proper name of Soujiro's Shukuchi, you guys rock.  
  
Big thankies to Sage for the quote. Yeah, you know what I mean.  
  
***  
  
"Was it a good idea to tell him that you knew the weasel-kid?" Sanosuke asked Kaoru as they ascended the stairs to the mansion proper.  
  
"I think so." Kaoru said, keeping her eyes trained on the great double doors at the top of the stairs. "The Oniwabanshuu are essentially trustworthy, but being who they are I wouldn't expect them to give their trust easily. We -are- going to need their trust in a few minutes-- otherwise they may not live to see another day."  
  
"You're really starting to creep me out, you know that? Is this because of that dream the kid said she had?" Sanosuke grumbled.  
  
"Misao's dream only confirmed what I suspect. Sano... you don't have to be here for this. If you don't believe that I do have some knowledge of this place then..."  
  
"Don't even think of sending me home." Sanosuke cut her off. "I trust you, okay. I know you have some sort of creepy foresight... I just wish you'd explain it to me."  
  
Kaoru laughed quietly. "No foresight, Sano... just very good information as you said when you came to the dojo that time."  
  
It wasn't lost on her friend that she had said 'That time at the dojo' instead of 'when we first met.' It was then that Sanosuke realized that maybe it was better if he didn't know the source of Kaoru's knowledge... it just might be too much for him to handle.  
  
(Deep in Hell Satan looked about himself in utter confusion as the little white flakes of cold, foreign substance began to gather in drifts and piles on his fiery kingdom)  
  
Instead he cracked his knuckles (a nervous habit) and looked about expectantly as they reached the top of the stair. "Who's next?"  
  
"I'll take the next battle as well, Sano." Kaoru nodded to the doors.  
  
Sanosuke frowned and then shrugged. "Yeah, well that last fight was pretty pathetic so I guess I can let you have him." he loped forward to shove the double door open... revealing a tall, gaunt man standing in a small antechamber. He wore a ninja suit much like Misao's with a white oni mask that had wicked yellow fangs.  
  
"Congratulations to have made it this far... though you seem to have had little trouble. It seems Okashira was right, the soft life of a Crime Boss's bodyguards have made us soft." he said quietly. "Before we begin this fight, I would ask you if your apprentice who Jin'eh kidnapped is all right?"  
  
"He's fine." Kaoru told him. "so you're the one who untied him?"  
  
"I have no liking for drawing children into the affairs of adults. He shows the promise of a great swordsman, it seemed a shame to squash that so early." the ninja exhaled slowly, making little clouds of gas jet out from the back of his mask... Kaoru wondered about that, but disregarded it. "I am Hanya, second is command of the Oniwabanshuu. You will go no farther, Raiden."  
  
"How many times have we heard that one so far, Kaoru?" Sanosuke joked.  
  
"My name is Kaoru Kamiya, not Raiden or Raiden no Onna." Kaoru informed the ninja as she drew her bodken. "I'm afraid that I must see Kanryuu tonight, and if I must go through you and your Okashira to do it then so be it."  
  
"Brave words, for a woman. You'll find that I and my leader are in a different class than that assassin you defeated so easily." he slammed his fists together and a metallic clang resounded from them. He took a stance facing sideways with his fists held up boxer style.  
  
"Careful, looks like he's got some brass knuckles in those gloves." Sanosuke cautioned her, before stepping back.  
  
"I should warn you." Hanya said with a chuckle. "No one has ever defeated my shin wan spell. Ever since you've set eyes on me, you've been under my spell."  
  
'That's what you think, I swear having someone say that before a fight seems to be a guarantee that they lose!' Kaoru thought and took her own stance, a shinken stance. 'This is the stance Kenshin used to measure the length of Hanya's arms, I could probably guess from memory because his arm was exactly as long as Kenshin's sakabatou but my Bodken has different dimensions, better safe than sorry. Besides, I'd really like to save my energy for dodging bullets if necessary.'  
  
Hanya took in her stance, feet shoulder-width apart with her sword held out directly in front of her gripped by both hands. "That's a defensive stance; the shinken... but I didn't notice you stressing defense before. Could you, perhaps have a trick up your sleeve?"  
  
When Kaoru didn't reply he snorted. "Oh yes, I forgot. You aren't the talkative type when you fight. GOOD!"  
Hanya attacked, propelling himself towards Kaoru by pushing off with his back leg.  
  
Kaoru didn't budge as Hanya's fist went straight for her face... his arm travelled up the length of her blade almost in slow motion. The second Hanya's wrist hovered over the grip of her bodken she darted out of the way... she'd been right. Her original guess had been at least an inch off.  
  
"What in Kami's name was that?" Sanosuke bellowed at her from the sidelines. "He almost hit you while you just stood there!"  
  
A deep growl built up in Hanya's throat. "You little... I know what you were doing!" he accused Kaoru who smiled benignly back at him. Hanya depressed a button in the palms of his gloves and his steel claws shot out of his gloves. "You're tricky."  
  
This time it was Kaoru who attacked and she did so without warning. Hanya parried her bodken with his claws crossed over his chest and attempted to slice through the wood by pulling his arms apart but Kaoru pushed herself back by using his chest as a spring board.  
  
Hanya skidded back a little but threw his weight forward to charge Kaoru again. She ducked to the side at the last minute and smacked him in the back of the head with her weapon. The wood hit metal and Hanya jumped away.  
  
"Armour." he said tersely. "I noticed you like to incapacitate your enemies with a nerve tap so I took a few precautions."  
  
Kaoru had to smile at that despite herself, Hanya certainly had taken the opportunity to do his homework. If he'd been there for her fight with Jin'eh then not only would he have readied himself against her nerve tap, he would have readied himself for the inabikari and the Yoha inkaten.  
  
'let's see, his mask sheilds his eyes and from the way his clothing bunches at his hips and shoulder I'd say he's braced all his major joints. The Arashi no Makaze wouldn't work on him anyway... that leaves one last move, anything else would be overkill...'  
  
"Let's do this!" Kaoru whispered and darted towards Hanya one last time. 'I just need to touch him, that's all!'  
  
Hanya again caught Kaoru's bodken in his claws, but this time Kaoru didn't pull away. Instead her lightning aura manifested around her and concentrated on her bodken.  
  
"Jinkourai!" Kaoru shouted and the electricity slammed into Hanya's body, temporaily short-circuiting his nervous system.  
  
Sanosuke applauded politely as Hanya slipped to the ground and Kaoru checked him for life signs. "Nice, is he dead?"  
  
"No, just stunned. The Jinkourai has that effect. I was a little worried that it might be stronger than I intended, because of the metal gauntlets." Kaoru explained. "It's actually a very weak charge, he'll be back up and about in... oh say, five minutes tops."  
  
"We'll be long gone by then." Sanosuke shrugged and gestured Kaoru on. "Who gets the Okashira?"  
  
"I believe I won that right by defeating Hanya, I don't think he'd look kindly on anyone fighting that man without going through him first." Kaoru said quietly. "Besides, I've done the lightest fighting so far."  
  
Sanosuke shrugged and trotted across the small room to open the door to the ball room. He bowed Kaoru in with such aplomb that she giggled.  
  
"You missed your calling, Sano-kun! You should have been in Kabuki theater!"  
  
"Bite your tongue." Sanosuke growled playfully.  
  
"I'm glad you both are taking this so lightly."  
  
Kaoru and Sanosuke redirected their attentions to the man standing casually in front of the doors opposite them. They obviously led to the rest of the mansion where, presumably, Kanryuu was... with a gatling gun, Kaoru knew.  
  
"Aoshi Shinomori, I presume?" Kaoru said in a chill tone.  
  
"And you are Kaoru Kamiya." Aoshi strolled forward. "I didn't expect you to get as far as me, I should have listened to Hanya's opinion of you. I won't make that mistake again." his hand drifted down to the hilt of his kodachi but Kaoru's voice stopped him.  
  
"I don't want to fight you, I didn't want to do any fighting tonight. I am simply here to talk to Takeda-san. I want him to leave Megumi Takani alone."  
  
"I'm afraid that you'll have to defeat me first." Aoshi told her as he drew his blade.  
  
"Do you know what he's doing with that opium-money, Aoshi?" Kaoru demanded.  
  
"My, awfully familiar aren't we? We've only just met and you're already using my first name."  
  
"Don't avoid the subject." Sanosuke snapped.  
  
"I don't, and I don't care. Knowing him, he's probably sleeping with it." Aoshi spat, his disgust momentarily broke his cool facade... but he quickly resumed it.  
  
"Wrong." Kaoru said quietly and Aoshi raised a curious eyebrow despite himself.  
  
"He's investing in a stock of weapons. He plans on becoming a weapons dealer. He even has a gatling gun on site." Kaoru told him.  
  
"I fail to see how this concerns you and I."  
  
"It doesn't concern me, but it concerns your men." Kaoru's voice was raising. "and it will concern you when he uses it on them."  
  
Kaoru fancied that she saw a flash of shock in Aoshi's pale eyes, but he was too well trained to let it show on his face. "Provided that I believe you, how do you come by this knowledge?"  
  
"It doesn't matter how I know, but you've already made Kanryuu mad today haven't you? Told him what you thought of him? Even quit maybe? Tell me, how long has he been out of your sight?"  
  
Aoshi's eyes narrowed slightly. "You are attempting to distract me. I am not falling for it. Draw your weapon or die here, now."  
  
"You're not going to make this easy are you?" Kaoru sighed. 'Good thing there's a contingency plan.' she thought. 'I didn't really think he'd trust a complete stranger.' Kaoru nodded Sanosuke away and drew her bodken.  
  
Sanosuke retreated to the doorway and leaned against the frame. Despite what Kaoru had told him, he was ready to step in at anytime to help her. He thought of the men they'd fought so far. 'True, they were individually cheap fights, but they fought like they were used to working together. Even then they were nothing to take lightly, the leader of a bunch of guys as strong as that... Kaoru might have trouble with him. I know she's working against a clock of some sort even if she won't say so. I'll wait for my chance.'  
  
Kaoru, on the other hand, was mildly more confidant than Sanosuke... or at least she told herself that she was. She had a major advantage over Aoshi by knowing his attacks without having seen them before, but the last time she'd witnessed Aoshi fight she had been safely on the sidelines and watching a fight and being in a fight are two completely different perspectives.  
  
The fight with Hanya had been one thing, but Aoshi was another all together... but still, there hadn't been enough changes to the timeline to affect the fight with the Oniwabanshuu. With the knowledge of the imminent deaths of these men Kaoru would count herself just as responsible for their deaths as Kanryuu if she let them die.  
  
There is more than one form of murder.  
  
'I won't let this happen, I won't let Aoshi's stubborn pride kill those men!'  
  
***  
  
Aoshi felt his confidence waver as he saw the look in his opponent's sapphire eyes.  
  
'This woman has a stronger will to fight than I originally believed. I truly am choking on my words tonight, perhaps I should have listened to her... but it's too late now. I cannot sully the pride of my Oniwabanshuu by backing down now!'  
  
Aoshi took his stance, the stance for the Jisen kenbu. From the expression on her face, he'd be better off to begin with his strongest attack. He might not last long otherwise.  
  
"Prepare yourself."  
  
He made his first blow slow, that usually unbalanced the victim-- they started wondering 'why is he being so slow?' and then when he zipped behind them, they became confused. The first movements of the jisen were the most crucial because they set up the psychological atmosphere that frustrated any attempts they might make against it.  
  
Raiden blocked the slow attack, but there was no surprise on her face, no questions, nothing--- almost as if she had been expecting it...  
  
The first ghost of doubt blossomed in Aoshi's mind, but he squashed it ruthlessly. 'She doesn't know my Jisen Kenbu, there's is no way she could. She is merely as good as I when it comes to hiding her emotions.' he told himself, but even so he found that he didn't quite believe it.  
  
The Jisen Kenbu was as much a mind game as it was a sword technique, as were most Oniwabanshuu attacks. 'She got through Hanya too quickly.' he realized. 'Either she has some sort of preternatural foresight... or there is another reason why she is here. None of my men would betray me but...'  
  
His eyes widened and Aoshi stopped in the middle of his attack. "Okina sent you, didn't he." he growled.  
  
Kaoru dropped her stance and blinked at him in total suprise. Her expression retreated into something Aoshi sensed was a normal mask for her to wear; closed eyes and a slightly strained smile, as if the world had just gotten a little bit weirder. "No, actually not. I'm sure if he knew where you are and who I am, he would have." her eyes opened and Aoshi saw a flash of something old and tired in them. "but as of now he doesn't and won't for a while." she paused to scratch the back of her head. "I have reasons to avoid Kyoto so I'm afraid I haven't gotten around to introducing myself. No one in the Aoiya betrayed your secrets, Aoshi. Try another angle." she resumed her stance. "Or are we still fighting?"  
  
She'd said that just to provoke more questions in him, Aoshi realized.  
  
"Okashira!" Beshimi, Hyottoko, Hanya, and Shikijo reached the ball room all at once. They looked somewhat the worse for wear but mostly unharmed. It seemed as though Kamiya-san and her ruffian companion had gone out of their way so as not to seriously injure them.  
  
Aoshi sheathed his kodachi, ignoring the protersts from his men. It pained him to disgrace himself and them, but this woman... she would have broken even the Kaiten Kenbu had he given her a chance. As he was now, he already knew he had no chance of defeating her, but perhaps one day...  
  
Common ninja wisedom was; 'it is better to recruit than antagonize'. Kaoru Kamiya was someone he could benefit from allying himself with. This situation was the same as each time he had met someone whom he realized would make an excellent member of his team, although he doubted he had what it took to command complete loyalty from this woman.  
  
The words did not come easy and Aoshi found himself nearly having to drag them forth. "I am going to trust you."  
  
The moment the sound of his voice died, the insane staccato beat of thousands of bullets ripping through wood flooded the room.  
  
"Too late!" Kaoru groaned and then cried out as a bullet slammed into her thigh, she crumpled to the ground and Aoshi, mindful of his promise, interposed himself between Kanryuu and the fallen woman.  
  
***  
  
The sickeningly familiar sound of the gatling gun's discharge died away quickly but was replaced by the nearly drunken noise of Kanryuu's laughter. He was indeed drunk, drunk on the power the gun gave him.  
  
The dust from the destroyed door Kanryuu had shot open settled to reveal him in all his skinny, gaijin glory beside the sleek, deadly weapon.  
  
"What the hell is that thing!" Sanosuke demanded.  
  
Kanryuu carressed the barrel of the gatling gun almost like a lover. "It's a gatling gun!" he said as proudly as a mother of twins. "The very latest available in fact."  
  
"Kanryuu." Aoshi growled. "You scum..."  
  
The words inflamed Kanryuu's temper and he rounded the weapon on the Okashira. "Does a pet dog dare call his master scum? I'll show you who is..."  
  
Three things happened at once then. A kunai thudded into Kanryuu's left eye, one of Beshimi's pellets slammed into his right, and Aoshi reached him to neatly remove his head from his shoulders.  
  
Kaoru looked away in shame as Kanryuu fell; she hadn't wanted -anyone- to die tonight... but she'd still manuvered Aoshi closer to the door that Kanryuu would break through so as to give him or her time to reach him before he began a slaughter.  
  
"Are you okay?" Sanosuke asked her quietly as soon as he reached her side. He looked over to Kanryuu's head, which had rolled over to one side of his body, more specifically he looked at the kunai in his left eye. "Looks like weasle-girl kept up her end of the deal."  
  
From her spot on the floor Kaoru watched a tiny shadow dart out one of the windows in the ceiling and into the night. Misao would undoubtedly let her presence be known to Aoshi later, but for right now the little ninja must have decided to play it safe and high-tail it out of there.  
  
Hanya came forward and knelt beside her. He caught the hem of her hakama and looked to her. "May I?"  
  
Kaoru nodded and he pulled up the cloth all the way to her leg, revealing the gory wound on her thigh. HE did some brief checking. "The bullet went clean through." he pronounced.  
  
"You knew this would happen." Aoshi said in a curiously calm tone of voice. "This is what you were warning me about?"  
  
Kaoru smiled her 'don't think too much of me' smile (which was colored a bit by pain) and shrugged. "Maybe, but its not an issue now is it?"  
  
Unfortunately, Aoshi was not one to be put off. "Who told you of Kanyruu's plans!?" he demanded.  
  
"Would you tell me the sources of your information?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"In exchange for your source, yes!" Aoshi said recklessly.   
  
Kaoru blinked, she'd meant her statement as a rhetorical question. She laughed and smiled a nicer smile at Aoshi. "A little bird told me."  
  
"Beshimi, give me the first-aid kit you have." Hanya ordered and the smaller man withdrew it from the sleeve of his gi.  
  
"There is some salve in there that will disinfect the wound." Beshimi told Kaoru, kneeling beside her opposite Hanya.  
  
"I can't believe I mistook her for a man." Shikjo mused to Hyottoko. "I mean, with legs like -that-..." he subsided under Kaoru's glare.  
  
"I realize you are a man and can't help but notice things like this." she gestured to her bared leg (which was very shapely and well-toned) "but could you keep you observations to yourself?"  
  
Shikijo held up hios hands harmlessly.  
  
"The police will undoubtedly be here soon," Aoshi said. "Hanya, tend to Kamiya-san's wounds and then Shikijo will carry her. Is it all right if the others gather up out belongings and take them to your dojo for the time being."  
  
"With the gatling gun in presence I imagine the police will strip this place clean. Go ahead, but please don't go into the dojo without me. Megumi isn't comfortable around men she doesn't know." Kaoru glanced at Kanryuu's head indavertantly and scowled in rememberance of what the crime lord must have done to her, even though she hadn't spoken of it yet.  
  
Aoshi's eyes norrowed momentarily in speculation as his eyes followed Kaoru's and anger briefly flashed across his face.  
  
"I thought we had intercepted everyone who would have attempted such a thing." Hanya said quietly, catching unto Kaoru's unspoken proclaimation. "It seems not."  
  
Kaoru found herself relaxing minutely... then Hanya did something to her leg that illicited a squeal of pain from her.  
  
From the way Hanya cocked his head and looked at her through his mask, Kaoru could practically hear him think. 'Are you really the kenshi that scared Okashira out of his attack?'  
  
***********  
End Chapter Thirteen  
***********  
Seiyuu; Hanya and Kaoru are going to become something like friends, something like enemies, aand yet neither. It's gonna be a totally fun, intense, non-romantic relationship. I get to write so few of those between a man and a woman.  
  
Patto rakurainiau - to be struck by a flash of lightning (literally)  
  
In it's true form this is one of Kaoru's more flashy, yet still kickass, attacks. It can only be done outside for she uses the electrical aspect of her ki to trigger a weak lightning bolt from the sky. The lightning bolt (if she's lucky) hits the opponent and temporarily paralyzes them. Of course it is very hard to control and as a result Kaoru usually uses a somewhat bastardized version itcalled the jinkourai.  
  
jinkourai- artifical lightning (literally)  
  
She makes a lightning bolt of her own ki to acheive the same result. The second version is much more reliable than the first. 


	15. Chapter XlV Breathing Space

********  
Chapter Fourteen;  
********  
  
Sometimes the beauty is easy.   
Sometimes you don't have to try at all.   
sometimes you can hear the blow of the wind in a handshake.  
Sometimes there's poetry written right on the bathroom wall.  
-Ani Difranco  
  
********   
  
It had been two days since the Kanryuu incident, as the residents of the Kamiya Dojo had taken to calling it. The Oniwabanshuu had found lodgings of their own, but could normally be found somewhere about the dojo either doing odd jobs (cleaning, fixing things, and hiding from Misao in Aoshi's case) or visiting with the regular inhabitants.  
  
Megumi had moved her clinic back to the basement under the Kogane but she still lived at the Dojo and walked over every morning.   
  
Kaoru was back in exile, back in one of Megumi's kimonos, and under orders not to move from her prescribed spot on the veranda on pain of divine retribution. She had passed two days there and was now thoroughly bored.  
  
The only difference was that this time she had a guard/companion.  
  
"...and she is not allowed to walk -at all- for the next week, if anyone shows up spoiled for a fight (kami forbid) you sic those ninjas of yours on them!" Megumi lectured Aoshi, who had apparently drawn the short straw that morning. Yesterday Beshimi had been her guardian and the day before that, Shikijo. "I'll be home around lunch to change her bandages and if I see any swelling around that bullet wound then I'll know who to go after!"  
  
Aoshi, to his benefit, didn't talk back but nodded politely to the preaching doctor. "I understand." he said simply.  
  
Megumi was in one of her plain kimonos (kami knew she had a million of the damn things). Sanosuke stood behind her with a medicine chest strapped to his back, looking bored as Megumi delivered her instructions to Aoshi.  
  
"I swear, if she budges so much as an inch ... I'll sic that Misao girl on you!" Megumi threatened.  
  
"There's no need to be nasty." Aoshi groused, more than a little put out over the idea of being talked down to by someone he could kill without breaking a sweat (not that he would).  
  
Megumi smirked slightly but dug a packet out of her sleeve. "Here, give her some of this tea in a few hours. It will help with the pain but for Buddha's sake don't drink any yourself."  
  
Aoshi made the packet disappear. "Nothing will befall her in your absence." he promised her with a special emphasis on 'absence'.  
  
He watched Megumi make her good-byes to Kaoru (which involved a suffocating hug and required Sanosuke to pry her off) and then trapise off to work.  
  
"I thought I had problems with Misao." he shook his head.  
  
Kaoru didn't reply until she managed to haul the air back into her lungs. "It can always get worse..." she gasped.  
  
Aoshi eyed the pack of tea given over into his keeping dubiously. "Does this work?"  
  
Kaoru made a face. "It tastes awful and puts me to sleep, but yes. I can only have every other day though."  
  
"I've got tea for you both, Kaa-chan!" Kaori chirped as she approached the two adults, bearing a tray of tea and tea-cakes... which, unfortunately looked as though she'd made them herself (apparently the cooking thing was genetic).  
  
"Thank you, musume." Kaoru said gratefully and let her daughter set it down between them. "What are you up to?" she asked, noticing her daughter was in her gi and trousers.  
  
"I'm gonna train at the Ujika Dojo downtown today, Sano-kun says the fighters there aren't as pathetic as every where else." she explained and kissed her mother on the cheek. "Beware, Enishi's gotten it into his head that he's gonna cook tonight. Do you want me to stop by Tae's and ask her to bring over something cold?"  
  
"Please?" Kaoru shuddered in rememberance of last night's fiasco (it had involved black tofu).  
  
Beside her Aoshi flinched, he had been there that night (having somehow been hauled there by Misao who had been invited by Kaori). Most likely he would be there again tonight since most of the Oniwabanshuu had taken to having their meals at the Dojo (thankfully they also sprang for most of the groceries). He took a sip of his tea. "What style do you practice?"  
  
"Technically jujitsu." Kaori replied flippantly. "but the style I learned was so personalized that it can hardly be called Jujitsu anymore."  
  
"She was raised at the Iron Mountain Monastery, in the summers while I travelled she would train with the monks there and in the winters I would stay there with her and teach her kenjutsu... I'm afraid the jujitsu is what stuck." Kaoru explained, but she smiled proudly at her daughter. "She's quite good at it."  
  
"Next time you see Hanya or Misao, I'm sure they'll spar with you if you're having trouble finding good opponents." Aoshi said quietly.  
  
"Hey, thanks!" Kaori said brightly and then took a glance at the sun. "Oops, gonna be late!" she leapt off the veranda and trotted out of the courtyard.   
  
Kaoru sighed. "She's growing up too fast."  
  
"They do that." Aoshi agreed. "There are times when I walk into a room, I still expect to see Misao there crawling across the tatami so she can use my pants leg to pull herself up and have another go at walking."  
  
"... and then she went and turned into a woman when you weren't looking." Kaoru said.  
  
Aoshi drank his tea and didn't dignify that comment with a response.  
  
***  
  
"Men!"   
  
Enishi casually blocked and countered Yahiko's head-strike and cracked his shinai over the boy's knuckles. Yahiko dropped his 'sword' and cradled his bruised digit.  
  
"That hurt!" he accused Enishi... but his sensei wasn't watching.   
  
He was staring off at the main haouse where Kaoru and Aoshi were quietly sitting together and chatting. Yahiko noticed that Enishi was gripping his shinai so tightly hair his knuckles were as white as his hair.  
  
Uh-oh, white-hair was getting jealous again.  
  
"You do remember that Megumi made him watch her, right?" Yahiko reminded his sensei.  
  
"... he's too casual." Enishi said through gritted teeth. "He's acting like he has every right to be there!"  
  
"Well, he -was- invited so he does, I suppose...." Yahiko cringed under the death glare Enishi leveled on him.  
  
"Whose side are you on?" he growled.  
  
"Your's! Your's!" Yahiko wiped some sweat off his temple with his sleeve. "What're you getting so worked up over? It's not like he's proposed or anything. If it bothers you so much why don't you start acting like a suitor instead of her old apprentice?"  
  
"Eh?" Enishi blinked down at his student. "What are you talking about?"  
  
Yahiko shook his head disparagingly. "You know, flowers, poetry, that sort of thing. I know it's asking a lot but try and being -charming-. Everyone knows how you feel about her, except perhaps her..."  
  
"So you think I should do something about this attraction of mine, eh runt?" Enishi asked, leaning on the tip of his shinai. "All right, tell you what. I'll give you fifty -perfect- strikes to do and go talk to Kamiya-sensei."  
  
"What? Wait, no fair!" Yahiko protested and recieved a rap on the skull for his troubles.  
  
"Stop complaining!" Enishi ordered. "And do those strikes."  
  
***  
  
"That looked painful." Aoshi observed as he and Kaoru watched Enishi and Yahiko train. "That boy has a good presence, he'll be a fine warrior one of these days. It's a pity that this new era is working so hard to make fighters such as outselves obsolete. He won't have much to build a life on."  
  
"Yahiko has skills and kenjutsu training is rebuilding his spirits." Kaoru told him. "He used to be an unpaid pick-pocket for the Yakuza because of a 'debt' his family owed them. As it turned out there never was a debt and Enishi brought him here, oh long before I stopped wandering."  
  
"The Yukishiro-boy has something of your poise, did you train him?"  
  
Kaoru blushed. "I met Enishi and his family when I was fifteen, I trained him in Kenjutsu for about two years before I had to move on. After that he trained under my father, we share the basics. I'm afraid my style has been somewhat tainted by my own tinkering." she cocked her head. "Perhaps when I'm allowed walk again I'll teach him the moves I made for the Kasshin style."  
  
"Namu amida butsu." Aoshi said piously. "Then there will be two of you, the world will never be the same."  
  
(Namu... translates roughly as 'Lord have mercy on me' but literally means; 'I sincerely believe in Amitabha (Buddha).')  
  
Kaoru blinked at him. "Did you just... make a joke?"  
  
"No." Aoshi said coldly.  
  
Kaoru laughed anyway, she was still laughing when Enishi reached them.  
  
"What's so funny?" he asked a little gruffly.  
  
"Nothing, nothing." Kaoru chuckled and peered around him at Yahiko. "He's improving more and more every day." she said proudly and smiled at Enishi, who blushed.  
  
"Yeah... well, he has it in him." the white haired kenjutsu intructor demurred. "Mind if I sit?"  
  
Kaoru nodded to the spot beside her. "Go right ahead." she watched Yahiko move through his strikes. "How was the Festival? I never had a chance to ask before."  
  
Enishi followed her gaze and grinned. "Yahiko spent most of his savings on winning prizes for Tsubame. She has a pet fish now as well as a porcelain doll from England and a indian black lace shawl. There was a Kabuki play as well they performed the 'Filial Daughter'. Then Kaori and I took turns winning prizes at the games while Yahiko and Tsubame took a walk in the municipal gardens." he carefully didn't mention the fact that Kaori had dragged -him- halfway through the gardens until they both got bored and then kissed him on the cheek.  
  
It wasn't just that Kaoru was Kaori's mother... Enishi still wasn't sure how he felt about the younger girl so blatantly showing her affection for him. She was only ten years old, dammit.  
  
Of course, Enishi had no way of knowing that Kaoru already suspected the parts he'd left out and was reserving her own doubts; not about her daughter's early decision, but about her choice in men. He couldn't know that despite everything Kaoru still couldnt bring herself to wholeheartedly trust him.  
  
She could still feel the curiously painless sensation of sharp steel sliding into her heart and the dead expression in those dull red eyes that never left her own until the last shreds of life fled her body.  
  
Her hand drifted up to cover uncertainly over her heart and she looked away from Enishi, much to his distress.  
  
"I'll... uh... go supervise Yahiko." he muttered anmd fled back to the practice ground.  
  
"... and then he went and grew up into a man when you weren't looking." Aoshi quoted Kaoru. "It seems we are in the same boat."  
  
Kaoru looked at him and the expression in her eyes silenced the onmitsu. "Not quite Aoshi, not quite."  
  
***  
  
Raven sighed with sympathy for her friend from her post in the Aether where she could watch over the happenings in Kaoru's reality with impunity. Aiden was with her again but this time he was sitting quietly beside her, watching on his own.  
  
"That boy killed her in her home-line, didn't he?" he asked suddenly.  
  
Raven nodded. "Rather gruesomely at that." she confessed. "He stabbed her through the heart after giving her that scar she carries. It affected her so badly that the wound carried over into this dimension. It isn't a mortal scar, you see? Its even a part of her temporal body."  
  
"Ouch." Aiden said succiently, then a playful gleam lit up in his eyes. He leaned in close to Raven and started to slip and arm around her awaist but she waved him away in annoyance. She was too focused on her work, but perhaps if she'd been watching she'd have developed a few more concerns about the black expression that flitted through his normally vibrant eyes.  
  
Jealousy is a horrible motivator and when the power to bend time and space rests in your hands tempation is awfully hard to withstand.  
  
***  
  
Lunch time came and went.  
  
A harried Megumi appeared at the dojo to inspect Kaoru's leg and deliver the same lecture to Hanya (who had taken over the watch) that she'd given to Aoshi that morning.  
  
The Okashira was last seen jumping over the wall just in time to avoid being caught by Misao, who was looking for someone to go shopping with her (read: A guy to carry her bags for her).  
  
When Hanya appeared, Kaoru rather wished she was in shape to do the same. She now wholeheartedly regretted using the Jinkourai on the onmitsu because unfortunately he had now become obessed with figuring out how she'd done it.  
  
Already he had explained many variables of the Jinkourai to her (as if she hadn't developed the technique herself, mou!) A. She'd used it through her bodken which was made of wood. B. She hadn't used anything to generate the electricity. and C. Wood didn't carry a charge. Technically it was impossible for her to have done what she had... only she had indeed done it.  
  
And that was driving him insane.  
  
"... the only thing I can think of is that you had some sort of metal rod concealed in the..."  
  
"Not even close." Kaoru informed him between bites of her lunch (which Hanya had been nice enough to help her prepare) "You do the Jinkourai by..."  
  
"No!" Hanya leapt to his feet and pointed at Kaoru in a rather overdramatic manner. "I want to understand this on my ownm..." he sat back down. "Now where was I...?"  
  
Kaoru sighed, it was points like this in her life when she truly understood the need for a word like 'oro' in the japanese language. 'Too bad it's reserved for men... then again, women should be too smart to get into situations like this in the first place. No wonder I keep getting mistaken for a man.'  
  
It was bad enough that she'd lucked a uni-sexual name like 'Kaoru', but now that she was older her features had lost their rounded 'cute' look and had become 'handsome' there were starting to be times when she doubted her own claim to the female gender. The clothes, facial scar, and sword didn't exactly help.  
  
'... maybe if I don't bind by breasts so tight.' she wondered. 'Or I could devise an outfit like Megumi's... or at least a tighter gi... Mou! Kenshin didn't have problems like this. All he had to do was let his gi hang open in the front an -nobody- was going to accuse him of being a woman.'  
  
Now there was a thought!   
  
Kaoru chuckled. 'Then again, if -I- let my gi hang open in the front, no one is going to accuse -me- of being a man either!' One definate benefit of having born a child was the figure she'd developed during her pregnancy... too bad no one could see it under her baggy gi and hakama. Maybe an outfit like Megumi's wasn't such a bad idea.  
  
Kaoru pondered the merits of Megumi's Kenshi outfit for a good ten minutes, but having already thought of Kenshin's gi and childbirth in nearly the same thought it was only a matter of time before she thought the most dangerous of thoughts.  
  
'I wonder what Kaori would think of Kenshin? My Kenshin that is.' the idea brought a wave of homesickness. 'Not that she'll ever meet him, Kenshin would adore her. I... I wish...' she shook her head to stem the oncoming depression in the making.  
  
She groped for her bodken and used it to lever herself to her feet, ignoring the warning pains from her leg. She needed to be moving anyway, otherwise her muscles would stiffen up and it would take weeks to get the strength back into her leg.  
  
"You shouldn't be up." Hanya protested half heartedly, he knew she needed to move as well as she did. "Just don't over do it and don't let Kitsune-sensei see you." he warned her and went back to his ponderings before he lost his train of thought.  
  
Kaoru nodded absently and headed for her bedroom, it was a good place to be alone. A better place was an ancient tree in the back corner of the dojo, but she could hardly climb that right now.  
  
"Kaa-chan!"  
  
She flinched as her daughter came charging towards her from the kitchen, looking mighty p.o.ed.  
  
"H-hello, musume!" she laughed nervously. "I was just... just..."  
  
"Up and walking when you're supposed to be resting!" Kaori snarled. "I thought Zombie-san was watching you."  
  
Kaoru coughed discreetly at Kaori's pet-name for Aoshi. "Ah... Zombie-san had pressing business elsewhere."  
  
"Oh." understanding lit Kaori's eyes. "Misao found him." she translated.  
  
"Please Musume, don't make me go back on the veranda!" Kaoru begged her child. "I'm bored silly!"  
  
Kaori crossed her arms over her chest and gave her mother -that- look. Kaoru held her hands up in defeat. "I'm going, I'm going." she sulked.  
  
Hanya clucked sympathetically as Kaoru limped back to the veranda under the hostile glare of her daughter.  
  
"I know who wears the pants in your family."he commented.  
  
***********  
End Chapter Fourteen  
***********  
Seuyuu; Okay, that chapter took too long to write and has little to show for it. The Writer's Block Fairy has been real cozy at DD's house. T_T 


	16. Chapter XV Old Flame

***********  
Chapter Fifteen; Old Flame  
***********  
  
'When a true genius enters this world you shall know him by this sign; all the dullards shall rise up in confederacy against him.'  
-Johnathan Swift  
  
************  
  
'When Mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy.' was the reigning philosphy of the Dojo at the moment.  
  
Kaoru just wondered who had nominated her 'Mama'.  
  
Her leg was well on the mend, to the point that Megumi was even allowing her to do a moderate number of chores in the morning (mostly she watched Ayame and Suzume play) Unfortunately all that free time had given her too much space to think-- and she'd long since learned what a depressing place her mind was.  
  
She tried to keep a game face up, but it didn't always work. Enishi was convinced he'd done some horrible thing to his 'Kamiya-Sensei' (Mou! that's almost as bad as Kaoru-dono!) Because he moped around the dojo like a conemned man, Megumi was convinced that he had indeed done something and now guilt was eating him alive. Kaori was a little closer, she thought her Kaa-chan was feeling lonely (how true, but if only she knew...) Sanosuke was a little confused but was patiently waiting out the storm, although he did make some attempts to stir things up.  
  
"... but I thought you wanted to get out of the Dojo!" Sanosuke complained. "This is just what you need!"  
  
"Sano, you -never- beat me at dice. You never will. Stop while you still have rice-money." Kaoru told him flat out.  
  
Kaoru was sitting on one of the larger stones in the garden with a pile of mending in a bucket beside her and Sanosuke was perched on another stone.  
  
"There's a first time for everything." he grumbled. "but I don't want to gamble -against- you, I just want you on my side! You -never- lose!"  
  
"Yes I do." Kaoru said primly. "Just not against you."  
  
"Aw-man, that's cold!"  
  
"It's also true." Kaoru glanced at him. "What's with the sudden need to get me out of the Dojo? The gambling bug can't have bitten you that hard and I know you haven't run out of money. You aren't stupid enough to have gambled away five hundred ryo."  
  
"Hey, I still have nearly all of that!" Sanosuke protested. "Damn it, can't you take a hint? I'm trying to cheer you up!"  
  
"... by taking me to a place where I can win you money?"  
  
He flushed. "Well, ya know, Two birds with one stone and all that..."  
  
Kaoru shook her head. "No thank you." she cursed as she pricked her finger. "I hate mending! Why won't Megitsune let me do something I'm good at?"  
  
Sanosuke chuckled. "She's just worried about you, Kaoru. You've been majorly down since you got that hole in your leg."  
  
"I'm depressed because I'm bored." Kaoru grumbled. "I want to be able to move around again!"  
  
"Megumi told me to carry you wherever you wanted to go." Sanosuke offered.  
  
"That's not the same."  
  
A sudden bout of vile cursing interuppted Kaoru and both she and Sano looked over to the cloud of dust billowing out of one of the more disused bedrooms of the Dojo.  
  
"Tell me again why Kaori is cleaning out -all- the other rooms?" Sanosuke asked Kaoru. "I realize you have a million of the damn things, but there's only so many people living here. Did she make Megistune mad?"  
  
"Maybe." Kaoru replied. "but they do require a good cleaning out every few months just so the dust doesn't take up permanent residence and bugs don't get it."  
  
"She's only been working on that one room though and I saw her hauling out a futon onto the roof to air it out." Sanosuke confided to her.  
  
"We aren't expecting any guests." Karou thought out loud. "Or at least... I didn't think so..."  
  
"Okeranasai!" came a cheerful shout.  
  
Enishi and Yahiko had chosen that moment to return from their grocery shopping. A jug of sake dangled from Enishi's elbow. Kaoru raised an eyebrow as they went into the kitchen, the items they had bought weren't so suspicious. Red miso, rice, soy sauce, ginger, and fish were the norm for the Dojo but no one in the Dojo drank Sake.  
  
"Did you see that?" Sanosuke asked Kaoru in an undertone.  
  
"The sake?" Kaoru asked.  
  
He nodded. "That, and they bought more food than normal, two sacks of rice even."  
  
Kaoru frowned. "Someone is coming to the Dojo and no one has seen fit to tell us." she said seriously.  
  
Sanosuke nodded. "Isn't this your Dojo?"  
  
"No, it was formally given into the care of Enishi in my father's will." Kaoru told him. "It's his Dojo, he can invite whoever he wants to stay here."  
  
"Still... there is something known as courtesy." Sanosuke huffed. "You want I should snoop around?"  
  
"No." Kaoru shook her head for emphasis. "We'll know soon enough."  
  
***  
  
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Misao asked Kaori. "I mean, Enishi's going along with it but asking a guy like that to come stay at the Dojo..."  
  
Kaori tossed her ponytail over her shoulder, she'd taken to wearing her hair in a bun and ponytail so as not to look exactly like a mintaure version of her Kaa-chan. "I'll have you know that if there is a single soul in Japan who can cheer my Kaa-chan up, it's him. Now quit yapping and help me clean!"  
  
The bedroom that Kaori had enlisted Misao's help in cleaning was actually the third biggest in the Dojo. Enishi and Yahiko shared the biggest, Kaoru had the next biggest, Kaori slept in a smaller room next to her Kaachan and the other five bedrooms weren't used at all. Unfortunately since no one went in them, they accumulated dust faster than the more used rooms.  
  
"Why does this guy need a room this big anyway?" Misao complained as she went back to chasing spiders out of the cobwebs on the ceiling.  
  
"You've never met him, when he gets here you'll see why." Kaori said absently, in midst of rubbing a coat of oil into a small writing desk.  
  
Jsut then the visitor's bell started clanging and Kaori leapt to her feet. "He's early!" she fussed. "Damn him."  
  
Misao followed Kaori as she bolted out of the room, headed for the front gate.  
  
***  
  
Sanosuke helped Kaoru up from her seat as the bell rang again. "So help me." he grumbled when Kaoru hissed in discomfort. "If that's a travelling salesman there's gonna be an ass kicking fest today."  
  
Kaoru laughed merrily. "Your favorite kind."  
  
He grinned as he got Kaoru's arm over his shoulder and helped her walk to the front. (Megumi had caught her walking on her own that morning and had nearly brought down the roof so now she at least pretended to have help.)  
  
Together they made slow progress to the front courtyard where Kaori and Misao were taking luggage from the new arrival.  
  
"Let me go, Sagara." Kaoru told Sano as she got a good look at the newcomer. "This could get ugly."  
  
He was tall, on the better side of six feet, with powerful muscles that could be seen even under the long white cape he wore over a navy blue short sleeved gi and trousers. He looked away from the girls who had welcomed him and straight at Kaoru, who was leaning heavily on her bodken in lieu of a cane.  
  
Without a word he strod over to where Kaoru stood, with Sanosuke hovering behind her ready to catch her if she fell or beat up the newcomer. He stopped a dangerously personal distance away from Kaoru; she was practically nose to chest with him.  
  
Kaoru looked up at him, unpreturbed by the invasion of her personal space and said. "You're still too damn tall, Seijuro-kun."  
  
"That's Hiko to you." he growled, albeit warmly. "And you're just too damn short." he dropped a friendly kiss on her upturned lips and gave her a quick hug before getting to busines. "What's this Kaori-chan tells me about you being hurt?"  
  
Kaoru smiled up at him. "I took a bullet to the thigh in a little rumble. Nothing serous, no ligament damage and it's healing clean. I'm just impatient to be up and around. Did you come all the way from Kyoto just because you heard I got hurt?"  
  
"Not exactly, I'm moving out of Kyoto and when Kaori mentioned in her last letter that you were staying here I figured this was as good a place to go as any and better than most." Hiko replied flippantly.  
  
Kaoru's eyes narrowed. "You've got a good business in Kyoto, why move?" she asked suspicously.  
  
"My Baka-deshi moved his wife into Kyoto, so naturally I couldn't stay." Hiko explained. "You shouldn't be standing. You!" he pointed to Sanosuke. "help me get her to the veranda."  
  
Sanosuke grudgingly took Kaoru's arm back over his shoulder and helped her to a seat, although no before giving Hiko a filthy look.  
  
"Who is this guy?" he demanded of Kaoru as Hiko sat down next to her. "And why's he so familiar?"  
  
Kaoru blushed lightly. "This is Seijuro Hiko, we and I were... ah... close a few years back. I met him when I was pregnant with Kaori, and we stayed together for a little while."  
  
Kaoru's explanation of her relationship with Hiko left a lot to the imagination, but she wasn't about to explain to Sanosuke -of all people- that Hiko had found her unconscious in a dirty little alley admist post-war Kyoto after a gang of foreign sailors had had their fun with her. He'd taken her to the forest and nursed her back to health; mentally and physically.  
  
Sanosuke looked a little put out at the evasive answer but he soon had other things to occupy his mind with.  
  
"Show me your wound." Hiko instructed her.  
  
Kaoru pulled the skirt of her kimono open and laid her leg over Hiko's lap. She valued his opinion on the wound. Megumi was a good doctor but Hiko could tell her if the wound wound would affect her swordsmanship.  
  
Unfortunately Sanosuke didn't take to this intimate behavior very well, he sat in the background cracking his knuckles and making low growls as Hiko removed the bandages from Kaoru's thigh.  
  
Kaoru became just a little worried, she knew for a fact that Sanosuke didn't think of her as anything more than a partner in battle, but he could be awfully territorial on behalf of his friends.  
  
Thankfully, Hiko ignored the younger man with fine precision and focused his attention on the bullet wound. "The doctor who mended this is very talented." he commented causally.  
  
"Glad to have your approval."  
  
Kaoru and Sanosuke froze at the acidic tone of voice Megumi used.  
  
The good doctor emerged from the front hall with a tray of tea and ohagi, but she didn't look very welcoming as she set it down beside Hiko and Kaoru. "Just what, may I ask, do you think you are doing to my Kao-san?"  
  
Hiko cocked an eyebrow at the panicked looks on Kaoru and Sano's face. "-Your- Kao-san?" he chuckled and shook his head. "Well, then there's no doubt about your identity. You're Takani Megumi, am I right?"  
  
"Indeed." Megumi nodded her head coldly. "And you are..."  
  
"Seijuro Hiko."  
  
"Never heard of you."  
  
"Of course -you- wouldn't have."  
  
Kaoru rolled her eyes as Hiko and Megumi started trading 'polite' barbs. "Um, are you through looking at my leg now?" she asked Hiko. "Cause I'm getting a cramp..."  
  
She took her leg back without waiting for an answer.  
  
Megumi sat down beside Kaoru and latched onto her arm. "Kao-san, you -do- prefer me to this rude man don't you?"  
  
"Um... I ah... er..." Kaoru said intelligently.  
  
"Well, you haven't changed much." Hiko chortled. "I take it you weren't expecting me?"  
  
"Ah, no. Definately no." Kaoru slipped her arm out of Megumi's grasp, much to the doctor's annoyance. "I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I may incriminate myself." she quoted something she remembered Raven saying once (something about Miranda rights)  
  
"Slick, Ru-chan."  
  
Kaoru made a face at Hiko. "I thought we agreed that you'd stop calling me that?"  
  
"Did I?" he blinked innocently. "I must have been drunk."  
  
"Hmph." Megumi got back to her feet. "I need to go start supper."  
  
***  
  
Misao and Kaori watched the exchange going on among the 'adults' from inside the hall.  
  
"See?" Kaori said cheerfully. "She's cheering up already!"  
  
"... but everyone else is totally p.o.ed." Misao pointed out. "Although, I guess he's no worse than Takani-san when she gets going, but what about when Enishi finds out they used to be lovers he's going to go mad."  
  
Kaori chuckled evilly and rubbed her hands together. "It's all a part of my master plan, Misao-chan! Kaachan would never go for a guy nine years younger than she is! Especially when she knows I like him. With Hiko-oji here he'll see that Kaa-chan is far too mature for him and naturally I'll be there to comfort him when he decides to be noble and abandon the field." she sighed and clasped her hands over her heart.  
  
Misao nodded and rubbed her chin. "That's pretty diabolical, Ri-chan. Not only does this cheer your Kaachan up and give you a shot at your guy, but it also gives Takani-san absolute proof that Kamiya-san is really straight."  
  
Kaori gave Misao a thumbs up. "... and I didn't mention this before, but Hiko-oji is a Master Swordsman. The next Psycho who comes sniffing around here had beeter watch out! He'll have to deal with Kaa-chan, Sano-nii, and Hiko-oji all at once!"  
  
The Ninja-ko was impressed. "Have you ever thought of joining the Oniwabanshuu?" she asked casually.  
  
"No way!" Kaori laughed. "Shadows are not my style, I prefer to take care of my business in broad daylight."  
  
***  
  
Dinner was a strained affair, Hiko and Kaoru ate comfortably in the silence, but the rest of the Kaoru-gumi were prone to suddenly putting their food down and glaring at one or both of them.  
  
Kaoru retreated out to the garden the first chance she got and was followed by Hiko. Enishi got up to stop him, but Aoshi interceded and said a few quiet words to him that sent him into the dojo where he spent the rest of the evening ruthlessly training Yahiko.  
  
Hiko settled himself behind Kaoru with his legs on either side of her so she could lean back against his chest. "It's been a while." he said quietly after they'd sat like that for a while.  
  
"Yeah, almost eight years, Kaori says she's been writing you regularly." Kaoru replied.  
  
"She has, she treats me like some sort of Diary," Hiko grumbled. "but it is nice to know what she's doing and what is happening around her. She is my God child after all."  
  
"Well, you and the Abbot at Iron Mountain are the closest things she has had to a father figure. When she was small I think she thought you -were- her father." Kaoru chuckled. "I remember the time she tried to call you tou-chan. I don't think I've ever seen anyone turn so pale before or since."  
  
Hiko muttered something foul under his breath. "Do you mind changing the subject?"  
  
"Not at all."  
  
Companionable silence ereigned again for a while until Hiko asked Kaoru a question.  
  
"Why did I come back to Tokyo?" Kaoru clarified.  
  
"Yes, I was with you when you got news of your Father's death. You didn't go rushing back to Tokyo then, so this Dojo obviously didn't need you around. So why now?"  
  
Kaoru sighed. "Time and place, Hiko. It was time for me to stop travelling, that's all."  
  
"I don't get you." He sighed. "In fact I think it's the entire female species I don't get, which is how it should be I suppose. Every woman I talk to always makes referances to 'it's time for this' or 'time for that'. Men go through life just trying to figure where they're supposed to be and what they're supposed to be doing, most die without ever coming close to figuring it out. Women seem to have some sort of sixth sense about that, you especially."  
  
"No, you're wrong about that." Kaoru corrected him. "Women get confused too, we're just better actors than men. I spend every morning trying to figure out whether or not I should be here and not there." 'Now instead of then.' she added silently. She sighed and leaned her head back on Hiko's collar bone. "Even your presence here has so many ramifications that I just don't even want to think of the consequences."  
  
"Or the benefits?"  
  
Kaoriu blushed. "Hey, down boy! I have a ten year old daughter to set a good example for."  
  
"If you can't be good," Hiko reasoned. "You might as well be good at it and you are the best."  
  
"Glad you think so." she sobered. "Why couldn't you stay in Tokyo with Kenshin?"  
  
"Feh, what if I met him on the way to the sake shop one day? What would I do? Ignore him, chat like good friends? That brat walked out on his training and used the Hiten Mitsurugi like one of those western weapons meant for mass slaughter. Someone as powerful as a student of the Hiten Mitsurugi should have been completely neutral, belonging to neither side. I can't stand the sight of him."  
  
"He was fifteen." Kaoru reminded Hiko. "Not even that, thirteen when he left you. Children do childish things, even go off to war. He's not a child now, maybe he understands what you were teaching him then?"  
  
"No, I saw him before I left. His eyes are dead, his swordsman spirit is crippled beyond repair. He's only alive when he looks at that wife of his and she's not much better than he. Both of them have let their souls become so battered that it's amazing they still have the will to breathe."  
  
Kaoru frowned. "You're wrong, I think." she told him. "I've known Tomoe, she's the kind that keep her true thoughts and emotions inside. There's an amazing fire in her but it's controlled and coiled tightly inside her. Her eyes may give the impression of one who is eternally sad, but once you've seen her let loose you'll never believe that again. As for Kenshin, I've only met him once, but I think you do him too little credit." she looked away from Hiko. "He spent too long as an assassin. It's true that mindless slaughter damages the soul, but he truly believed it was for a purpose. His soul is not dead, but it is hidden now. I believe he could surprise us all, given the chance."  
  
"Why can't you let me be disgusted with my ex-apprentice in peace? Now you've got me hoping he'll pull through!" Hiko complained.  
  
"You don't need me to say anything." Kaoru chided him. "It's part of teaching, you and I both know it.  
  
**********  
End chapter Fifteen  
**********  
Seiyuu; Hehehehe, yet another future complication for when Kenshin and Kaoru meet up again, but then again you don't know all the details yet. That's all for now, see ya next update!  
Ja! 


	17. Chapter XVl Musings on a Kenshi

**********  
Chapter Sixteen; Musings on a Kenshi  
**********  
  
Brain rapes range from "my neurons had to fake an orgasm" to "my cerebrim was given rohypnol" to "my brain needs support groups and therapy"  
-Sage  
  
**********  
  
"Busu!"  
  
"Twit!"  
  
"Tanuki-chan!"  
  
"Idiot!"  
  
"Raccon!"  
  
"Jerk!"  
  
"Midget!"  
  
"Runt!"  
  
"CROSS-DRESSER!"  
  
The beating commenced.  
  
Kaoru sighed and rubbed her sinuses, beside her Aoshi and Hiko shook their heads in unison.  
  
"Do the boy like being hurt?" Aoshi asked Kaoru.  
  
Kaoru shrugged. "Who know what ten year olds think? I know I don't remember."  
  
"Nor I." Aoshi agreed. "Perhaps you should watch him for other masochistic tendancies?"  
  
"Been doing that, this seems to be limited to fighting with Kaori." Hiko told the Oniwabanshuu, Kaoru nodded her agreement.  
  
Aoshi shook his head disparagingly. "Something about this place brings out the wierdeness in people."  
  
"AOSHI-SAMA!"  
  
He flinched as Misao waved at him from the front gate. "Some others however..." he muttered and then made strangulated noises as Misao once again glomped him.  
  
Kaoru laughed and used her bodken to pry Misao off before Aoshi died of asphyxiation. She was immediately glomped in return and it was up to Hiko to pry Misao off her while Aoshi got his breath back.  
  
"You both are just too much fun to mess with!" Misao giggled and latched onto Aoshi's arm, which he let her have considering the alternative... but also because he actually liked the human contact as long as it didn't interfere with his breathing.  
  
"How's job hunting for the Oniwabanshuu going?" Kaoru asked. "You guys haven't been around as much."  
  
"Since you're up and around again, we don't have to keep a guard on you." Misao explained.  
  
"The others have odd jobs around town doing basic bodyguarding for Okubansho and Restaurants. Shikijo is working at that restaurant you all favor; Akabeko." Aoshi told Kaoru. "Actually, they've all got some vacation time coming up and we're going to the Hot Springs up in Izu."  
  
Kaoru grinned. "Izu! I passed through there on my way to Tokyo, I remember wishing that I had enough money to stay in the Inn there. The Hot Springs there are something else."  
  
"Hey, why don't you guys come too?" Misao burst out. "I mean, I'd really hate to be the only girl there and with you, Takani-san, and Kaori it'd be way cooler."  
  
Aoshi glanced at Misao. "That's true isn't it? Why not?" his lips twitched in an attempt at a smile. "The more the merrier, isn't that what Okina says?"  
  
"... just in reference to something other than vacations." Misao muttered.  
  
Kaoru wasn't positive, but she thought she saw a faint tint of pink touch Aoshi's cheeks; it was gone before she could be sure.  
  
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Kaori agreed, emerging from the cloud of dust that had sprung into being where she'd been pummelling Yahiko. "I wonder if the hot springs in Izu are any better than the ones up at Iron Mountain?"  
  
"There were hot springs at the Monastery where you grew up?" Misao quizzed Kaori.  
  
"Yeah, they're half the reason the Monastery was founded there. Those guys do almost othing else but farm the feilds and practice their matrial arts, a good hot spring can be invaluable to their health."  
  
"It must have been odd growing up with only men around." Aoshi commented.  
  
Kaori sat down on the veranda with her mother. "Not really, it was actually like having twenty or so big brothers. They could be unreasonable about me talking to boys down in the town but they all had something to teach me." she laughed. "The Monastery doesn't disallow it, but it's frowned upon for the Monks to take wives so they all pretty much had given up the idea of having children of their own. Kaneda-nii was the worst really, he woldn't let me leave the monstery without him right there. He was convinced that I'd die if I set foot outside the walls or something."  
  
Kaoru chuckled. "Brother Kaneda hasn't changed much then, he was always paranoid about the people he cares about. Is he still as gung-ho as ever?"  
  
"Yeah, and then some. I'm surprised he didn't follow me to the Dojo." the young girl scoffed and then turned a little serious. "By the way, if any of your Oniwabanshuu see a bald guy in his twenties with tan skin, and a scar over his right eye who is dressed like a monk then tell him Kaori says to stop skulking around and just come to the Dojo."  
  
"Have you been followed recently?" Aoshi asked Kaori.  
  
"Not as I can tell." she shrugged. "I do however know Kaneda. If he's not in town right now then he's on his way."  
  
***  
  
About fifteen miles outside of Tokyo, at a road-side tea stall a five and a half foot tall monk with a scar over his left eye sneezed in the middle of his prayer of thanks over a mug of tea and some onigiri.  
  
"Bless you, Kaneda-san." The stall owner said graciously as the monk sniffed and blew his nose on a handkerchief.  
  
"Arigatou gozaimasu." he answered and sniffed again. "Someone must be talking about me."  
  
***  
  
"Uh-oh, heads up. Chibi-Saitou is here for his lesson." Enishi warned the group as they laughed over one of Kaori's 'Kaneda' stories.  
  
"Ohaya Yukishiro-sensei, Kamiya-sama!"  
  
Saitou stood at the front gate escorting Shinnosuke inside, he waved once, impersonally. Beside him his son waved more energetically.  
  
Shinnosuke was indeed a 'Chibi-Saitou' or at least showed every sign of turning into one. He was already shooting up and outgrowing clothing at an embarrassing rate and with those growth spurts, his baby fat was being spread thin giving him the same lanky structure as his Father. His face had also lost most of it's softness and let his bone structure shine through.  
  
Fortunately his mother cut his hair so no one would ever call this boy 'spider-face', but it was drawn back into a high pony tail with heavy bangs covering one eye.  
  
The most unsettling resemblance Shinnosuke had to his father was his expression. He had that same beatific, closed-eyes smile that Saitou adopted when he was doing his 'Fujita Goro' act. In fact the kid almost never opened his eyes except when he was mad, scared, or serious.  
  
Unfortunately, even though Saitou had some sort of wierd sixth sense that let him walk around without seeing where he was going, Shinnosuke did not and was forever walking into walls and whatnot.  
  
"Ohayo, Shin-kun!" Kaoru greeted him. "Saitou-san." she nodded to Saitou.  
  
"Practice well, son." Saitou told Shinnosuke. "I'll pick you up after work."  
  
"Sayonara, Tou-sama!" Shinnosuke said brightly. As soon as his father left the courtyard he turned to Kaori. "Ohayo, Kaori-kun. Have you beaten up Yahiko-chan today or is it my turn?"  
  
*AN* It's acceptable for students to add the suffix -kun to each other's name regardless of sex, although it's usually meant for male friends. This rule applies in modern Japanese but I don't know about the 18th century japanese. There can't have been too much language drift though, it was only century or so... oh jeez listen to me ^_^¿ 'Only' a century.  
  
Yahiko's strained voice came from the garden, where he'd been beaten into the dirt. "Don't call me, -Chan!"  
  
"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Shinnosuke inuited.  
  
Kaori laughed and nudged her partner in crime with her elbow. "It's good for his soul." she whispered to him.  
  
"Then Yahiko's soul must be very healthy indeed by now, in fact if you keep this up he might attain Buddha-hood!" Kaoru chided.  
  
Shinnosuke and Kaori beamed angelically at her. "Hai!" they chorused.  
  
"Are you training with us today, Kaori-chan?" Shinnosuke asked Kaori.  
  
"I dunno, it depends on the lesson Enishi had in mind. Do you need me for a demonstration, Enishi?" she asked the shihondai.  
  
"Actually yes, we're going to get into the hand to hand combat today and I'll need you help to partner off against the boys." Enishi got to his feet. "Someone pry Yahiko off the ground and get him into the Dojo." he commanded as he left for the lesson.  
  
Shinnosuke and Kaori leapt to it and mercilessly hauled th groggy boy into the practice hall.  
  
Kaoru excused herself to go observe the lesson, as she always did. After all, after the boys passed a certain level she would take over their training so Enishi could take on a fresh batch of beginners. She wanted to become familiar with their habits before then so she could be an effective teacher.  
  
'Mou, Kaoru.' she chided herself cheerfully as she followed Kaori and Shinnosuke into the Dojo. 'Twelve years of being an actual swordswoman haven't killed your true passion. I guess what I told Saitou is true, some people are meant to practice and some are meant to teach. I'll always find a way to train children in Kenjutsu no matter what I do or where I go. I suppose it's just part of who I am.'  
  
***  
  
"It's good to see Kaoru-san moving under her own steam again." Aoshi commented as the Kenshi woman disappeared into the practice hall.  
  
"I'll say, she's the patient from Hell." Hiko grumbled. "It makes me pity Kitsune, almost."  
  
Misao poked him. "How do you know that?" she asked.  
  
Hiko cocked an eyebrow at her. "Do you know how Kaoru begot Kaori?"  
  
Aoshi's eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he took a sip of tea to cover up the expression of curiosity on his face. Kaori's existance had been an issue of worry for him, Kaoru-san had once told him that she'd never been married and had refused to ay anything more. Now that he knew she and Seijuro-san had been lovers it aroused his inherent, ninja curiosity. He knew the candidates would be few, since Kaoru-san was a very discerning woman. She wouldn't take a lover on a whim.  
  
He honestly wanted to know why Kaoru hadn't married Kaori's father. It wasn't as though she was an unattractive woman, and she was adept at the domestic arts. There were definately worse wives to be had if a man got his lover into trouble. Maybe the man would have forced her to give up her sword? If that was the case then he could understand. Any one who had hoend their skills the way Kaoru had would die before giving it up.  
  
"Rape, yeah." Misao shuddered. "Kaori told me the story."  
  
Aoshi spat out his tea.  
  
"Are you all right?" Misao leapt up to pound Aoshi on the back. "Did you swallow wrong?"  
  
He waved her off. "No!" he sputtered a little more and wiped the moitsure from his mouth. "Did you just say that Kaoru-san was -raped-?" he asked Misao. "A Kengo such as she? By who?"  
  
Of all the scenarios he'd imagined, -that- had never been an option!  
  
Misao nodded. "Yes, Kaori told me the whole thing. It was in 1869, Kaoru-san had been travelling for about three years then." she sat back down and looked sad. "Kaori didn't know too many of the details, but she did know that her Kaa-chan was out in a bad part of town at night and met up with some chinese sailors. the rest they say, was history."  
  
Aoshi settled himself and drew on his composure like a coat. "What does this have to do with Kaoru being a difficult patient?" he asked Hiko.  
  
"I was the one who found her after the scum-bags were done. I may have even passed them as they left her." Hiko scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "She was unconscious in an alley way with several knife wounds to accompany what they'd done. I suppose the idiots thought they'd killed her, but they were so drunk they didn't realize they'd only inflicted some flesh wounds. The bleeding was still bad, so I took her back to my Pottery and patched her up. I know she's a bad patient because she kept trying to sneak off before her wounds began to knit. She was convinced she was imposing on my hospitality."  
  
Misao snorted with feeling. "That's so like her."  
  
Aoshi frowned. "I still don't understand how a master swordsman like her could fall prey to some drunk animals."  
  
"You misunderstand." Hiko corrected him. "She wasn't always as amazing as she is now. In fact when I first met her, she was pretty damn pathetic. Someone had been messing with her head and had her trained to be protected. While she was recovering her strength I trained her in some of the basic forms of the Hiten Mitsurugi; speed, ken-ki, and using her bodken efficiently. She stayed with me for nearly two months before she went to the Iron Mountain Monastery where she had Kaori. She stayed there until Kaori was four and then she started her travels again."  
  
Hiko paused to shake his head. "That woman and her wander lust. Anyway, while she stayed at the Monastery, the Abbot there helped her develop the Kasshin style her father had taught her into the advanced style she uses today. I visited the Monastery often and Kaori thinks of me as something like an Uncle/Father. Kaoru travelled in the Spring and Summers, when Autumn came she headed back for the Monastery to spend the Winter with Kaori. That's part of the reason Kaori is so attached to her mother, she's used to only seeing her four months out of every year."   
  
He looked off to the Dojo, where he could see Kaoru clapping her hands, applauding Kaori as she tossed Shinnosuke across the floor in a classic judo-throw. "I was surprised when I learned that she was settling down here for good. It just doesn't fit in with the way she's lived her life, but then I don't know what motivated her to start travelling in the first place. She has a great love for teaching and she would instruct village children in basic Kendo as she travelled and get the talented ones enrolled in good Dojos. When I learned, two years ago, that she had once been the Heir to this Dojo in Tokyo I couldn't understand why she left her students and went into danger."  
  
A frown creased Misao's pretty forehead. "I don't get that either, do you think she was trying to get stronger so she coud be a better teacher?"  
  
"I doubt it." Aoshi interjected. "Teaching others has very little to do with how skilled you yourself are, although it does make the student mind a bit better. I believe we have just presented ourselves with another mystery of Kamiya-Kaoru. That makes how many so far, Misao?"  
  
"Well..." Misao held up a hand and started to tick them off on her fingers. "There's the fact that she knows just about everything that goes one around her. And also how she knows Hiko-san... oops, guess that one's not a mystery anymore. That also goes for how she conceived Kaori, and how she got so good with a sword. I guess we're down to her knowledge, what she travelled for, where she travelled, what she did while she travelled, why she started in the first place, why she is scared of Enishi sometimes, why she felt she had to get so incredibly strong, and where that scar came from."  
  
"Oh is that all?" Hiko asked sarcastically.  
  
Misao nooded cheerfully, the insult flying right over her head.  
  
Aoshi took another cautious sip of his tea. "I doubt we'll ever run out of things to wonder about Kaoru-san. Hiko-san, did she receive the scar when she was attacked that night?"  
  
Hiko shook his head and frowned. "Come to think of it, she already had the thing when I met her. It looked old then as well."  
  
"Hold it!" Misao held her hands up in a time-out T. "You said she had it ten years ago? Wouldn't it have faded a little by now? That thing is still as dark as if she'd only gotten it a year ago!"  
  
The two men mulled that over silently until Aoshi broke the silence.  
  
"This is only a bit of medical superstition, but I once heard that if a person had great emotions centered around a scar then it won't fade until that person gets over that trauma."  
  
Misao looked over her shoulder at the dojo. "Come to think of it, Kaoru-san always touches it when she starts thinking and getting depressed. Especially if Enishi is around. Maybe he knows something about it?"  
  
"I guess we'll have to interrogate him after supper then." Hiko said grimly.  
  
********  
End Chapter Sixteen  
********  
Seiyuu; Questions, questions, too many questions and answers only breed more!   
  
Ladies and Gentle-beings! The Writer's Block Fairy has left the building! In commemoration of this event, another chapter! 


	18. Chapter XVll Phantom Scar

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Chapter Seventeen; Phantom Scar  
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"The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple." ~ Oscare Wilde.   
  
*********  
*AN* About the Kaoru/Hiko thing, sorry folks but I'm a closet Kaoru/Hiko fan!Sorry, but Hiko knows when to step back. They're intimate but there's actually very little going on between them. Hiko and Kaoru were lovers for a very short time, actually Hiko probably only did it so Kaoru could remember that people actually did that sort of thing for -fun-. I mean, look at Megumi.  
  
*********  
  
Enishi was positive he hadn't heard them right.  
  
Of all things to drag him away from his chores to ask, why would they want to know -that-?  
  
"You want to know ... what?" he asked just to be sure he'd heard the correct question.  
  
Hiko, Misao, and Aoshi nodded as one.  
  
"You heard right, Enishi." Aoshi confirmed. "We would like to know if Kaoru-san had her scar when you met her?"  
  
Enishi scratched the back of his head. "Uh.... that's an awfully personal story guys. Why do you want to know?"  
  
"Hiko-san says that she had it when he met her eight years ago, and it struck me as odd that it wouldn't have faded away by now." Aoshi explained. "It's been almost a decade. I've also noticed that she touches it when she becomes thoughtful or depressed; especially if you are in the area."  
  
Enishi hung his head and sat down on the veranda. "You might as well sit down. It's a strange story, and sometimes I even wonder if I just made it up when I was a kid and started to believe it over the years."  
  
Misao shuddered and held onto Aoshi's arm. "I-is it a ghost story, I hate ghost stories!"  
  
"Kaoru-san is hardly dead." Aoshi told her and awkwardly sat down beside Enishi. Hiko followed suit. "Please tell this story."  
  
The white haired boy saighed and rubbed his arm. "Well, I guess the story starts with my sister and her husband. My sister is married to Battousai the Hitokiri."  
  
Misao whistled appreciatively. "Wow, you know some people don't you?"  
  
"Feh." Hiko sulked, but he was ignored.  
  
"My Brother in Law was the most feared assassin during the Bakumatsu and he killed many men, one of those men was named Akira and he had been engaged to my sister. He had become a Bodyguard to one of the Shogun's vassals so as to impress Tomoe because he thought she didn't love him, but she did. Tomoe was never very demonstrative with her emotions. When Akira died, Tomoe quietly packed up her things and went to Kyoto to get revenge on the man who had murdered him." he leaned back against the outer wall of the house. "I was very attatched to my sister when I was young, she was practically the only Family I had since our mother died when I was only a baby and our father lost it somewhat when she died. anyway, eventually I managed to follow her and discovered that she had hooked up with some Shogunate mercenaries to kill Battousai. She was to get close to him and discover his weakness... only as time went by, she -became- his weakness."  
  
"He fell in love with her?" Misao sighed with stars in her eyes. "That's so-o-o romantic, ne Aoshi-sama?"  
  
Aoshi stoicically ignored that.  
  
"and she with him." Enishi agreed. "It was ironic really. At the time I thought I hated him, but I realize now that I felt more betrayed by Tomoe. I had been willing to tolerate Akira for Tomoe's sake and had been angry on her behalf when he died but when she went and fell in love the man she was -supposed- to hate." he shook his head. "The heart has it's reasons, of which reason knows nothing..."  
  
"Shakespeare." Aoshi agreed.  
  
"Yeah." Enishi scratched his cheek and continued. "After that the shogun's men kidnapped Tomoe and took her to a forest that was sitting on a deposit of magnetized ore that killed a swordsmen's sixth sense, it was called the Forest of Barriers. Naturally my brother in law went after her and killed the men one by one, but as they died they did thing to his eyes and ears so that by the time he reached the strongest one who had Tomoe he was half-deaf, half-blind, and half-mad. He didn't stop though, he kept fighting even though by then he'd discovered that Tomoe had been sent to kill him; he loved her that much."  
  
Hiko raised an eyebrow.  
  
"They fought and Kenshin, that's the name he uses now, nearly died. At the last moment he rallied, but Tomoe picked that moment to pull a dagger and go for his opponent. If no one had interfered then Kenshin's sword would have gone through her and into the mercenary. That's when Kamiya-sensei appeared. She ran out of the forest and knocked Tomoe out of the way. I was there in the trees watching the whole thing. She covered Tomoe's body with her own and got doused by the rain splurting out of the man's body. Kenshin passed out then from his wounds and Kamiya-sensei let Tomoe up to go see to him, I ran from the forest."  
  
"What happened after that?" Misao pressed.  
  
Enishi blinked and blushed. "Ah, well... she followed me. I guess she might have glimpsed me in the trees and known that I saw the entire fight. So she went after me to keep me from doing something stupid." he reached up and touched a lock of his shock white hair. "My hair wasn't always this color and I don't bleach it. When she caught me, I went crazy and pulled a tanto on her. She knocked it out of my hand and then... then the strangest thing happened..." he trailed off.  
  
"What?" Hiko demanded.  
  
"Our eyes met and suddenly I didn't know why I'd been so angry. Then a bruise started darkening on her left cheek only no one had hit her there and it went from yellow to nearly black in mere seconds. It was in the shape of the cross that's still there today. The bruise suddenly turned into an open cut and then knitted and became the scar. While that happened my hair turned white." he ran his hand through his hair. "We just stood there staring at each other for a long time and then she offered me her hand and said; 'Tomoe is going to need help getting your Brother in Law back to the house.' After that we went down and carried him home. She left again before Kenshin woke up and didn't come back until Katsura had called him back to duty." he looked away. "I haven't been able to hate Kenshin since that day."  
  
Silence reigned.  
  
Everyone jumped as he shijo screen beside them slid open and Kaoru stuck her head out. "Hey! Why the long faces?" she chirped. "Megumi and I made an-pan! Hurry and get some before Yahiko and Kaori eat it all!"  
  
*AN* An-pan is a sweet japanese bread roll filled with An (a coarse, yet sweet azuki paste). Azuki paste is made with the same red bean that is used to make o-hagi which is a rice ball covered in An. They're both all time favorite snacks, but they don't keep long and aren't usually available outside of japan unless you make it yourself. I have the recipe for O-hagi if any of you RK otakus out there wants it! Japanese cook books rock!  
  
She glanced around when she realized that everyone on the veranda was staring at her. "What?" she asked and looked down at her clothes. "Do I have something on my gi?"  
  
There was a slow, sullen shaking of heads with much eye diverting and Kaoru put her hands on her hips. "All right, what did you guys do?" she asked tiredly.  
  
"Noth, Kaoru-san." aoshi got to his feet and dusted himself off. "I think I shall go get some of that an pan."  
  
"Wait for me Aoshi-sama?" Misao pranced after him.  
  
"I'm going to get some sake'." Hiko told Kaoru and left the house.  
  
That left Enishi who looked guilty to beat all, Kaoru sat down next to him. "Is there something you want to tell me?"  
  
He shook his head. "Not really, but they were asking some questions... it's nothing really."  
  
"Oh." Kaoru nodded. "If that;s the case then go inside and get your an-pan before it's gone."  
  
"Right."  
  
Enishi couldn't see, but as she watched him go Kaoru's hand crept up as of it's own free will to trace the lines of her scar.  
  
All of a sudden she wasn't feeling so cheerful anymore. "Mou." she huffed to herself. "I'm going to go finish up the dishes! You all can have mine." she called inside.  
  
There were a few muffled protests but they were lost in the scuffle to claim her share.  
  
As she wandered into the garden she felt Raven materialize beside her.  
  
"Oi, chica. News Flash." she chirped.  
  
Kaoru glanced over at raven, who was today in a pair of black gi and hakama. Her ever present skull was emblazoned on the back. "Cute out-fit." she complimented the woman.  
  
Raven grinned. "Isn't it though? Make sure you take your band to Izu with the Oniwabanshuu, remember what happens there?"  
  
Kaoru's face fell. "Oh, right. Raijuta, I'd forgotten about that kingdom-building sociopath. How long do we have?"  
  
"Oh months." Raven waved a hand. "I just thought you might like to get a head start before things came to a head... or a slaughter as the case may be."  
  
Kaoru levered herself down onto one of the garden stones. "Spill, Raven. What do you know?"  
  
Raven giggled and sat down beside her. "Well, I thought you might drop a little hint to Saitou, you know?"  
  
An ironice grin tugged at Kaoru's lips. "Go on, I understand."  
  
***  
  
The an oan didn't last very long, especially with three hungry preteens for the adults to contend with.  
  
Luckily for Aoshi he'd never had much of a sweet tooth and just one was more than enough. He noticed, with disapproval, that Misao got three.  
  
'She'll work it off, no doubt.' he chided himself. 'With all the running about and jumping she does three an-pans don't stand a chance of making her fat... still, perhaps I should have a word with her. She isn't an active member of the Oniwabanshuu but she should always be ready for combat.'  
  
Of course, the an-pan had been very good; a testament to Kaoru-san's inspired cooking. Although he knew better then to tell her so.  
  
'I wonder why she always gets that annoyed expression when someone compliments her cooking?'  
  
He was startled out of his thought when Misao tugged on his sleeve.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Misao grinned. "I'm going to head back to the apartments now before it gets dark, I'm not in the mood to beat up muggers and pick pockets." she told him. "I'm going to write a letter to Jiya tonight, is there anything you'd like me to tell him?"  
  
"Nothing that I can't send with by pigeon." Aoshi assured her. "Take Shikijo with you, he's had enough to drink." he ordered with a cool look in the Body builder's direction, who was on his third bottle of sake.  
  
"Hai!" and she bounded off to leave Aoshi to his musings... or rather, to allow Kaoru-san to approach him.  
  
"Aoshi-san? May I have a word with you outside?" she asked quietly.  
  
Aoshi nodded and followed her to the veranda. "What is it?" he asked as she shut the shoji, barely blocking out the low din of good-natured companionship.  
  
"About that trip to Izu." she started and Aoshi exhaled slowly.  
  
"You are not about to inform me of something going on there that you're going to go fix, are you?" he asked in mild annoyance.  
  
Kaoru-san blushed and nodded embarrassedly.  
  
"So we'll be missing out on our vacation?"  
  
Then Kaoru grinned and Aoshi felt a small sense fo foreboding. When that woman smiled the way she was now, it always boded ill for someone. "Not if we take a few percautions."  
  
Aoshi shook his head and sat down. "All right, tell me what you have planned."  
  
***********  
End Chapter Seventeen  
***********  
Seiyuu; wow, this fic's reviews have passed the 200 mark! Thanx you guys! The story is finaklly getting back to the action, there will still be a few more 'home' chapters before that but we now get to see Kaoru train Enishi! Heheheheh, you have no idea how long it's going to take him just to pick up the basics of Kamiya Kasshin 'Advanced' Style.... although I suppose there is a so 


	19. Chapter XVIII Asian Sirocco

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Chapter Eighteen; Asian Sirocco  
*************  
  
A butterfly flapping it's wings  
caused a hurricane half a world away.  
--The Theory of Chaos  
  
*************  
  
-Smack.-  
  
"No good, try it again."  
  
-Smack!-  
  
"You're still not getting it, Enishi."  
  
-SMACK!- -Crack!-  
  
The broken practice dummy hit the ground and rolled across the cobbled practice ground to be stopped by Kaoru's foot.  
  
"It's not about strength, Enishi." she said gravely. "With enough muscle -anyone- can break through a stick of wood with another stick. I don't think you've grasped the Tokkan Inazuma yet."  
  
Enishi exhaled gustily and let the tip of his bodken droop until it touched the ground. "Maybe I don't." he agreed quietly. His hand whipped up just in time to catch the wadded up paper ball headed for the back of his skull.  
  
"Nice try, runt." he said over his shoulder to Yahiko. "It this your way of cheering me on?"  
  
The young boy made a face at his sensei. "You're giving up!" he accused. "I'm not gonna let you, not after the hell you've put me through so far. So try again or I'll throw something heavier and cheaper than a wad of paper at you!"  
  
Kaoru smiled at Yahiko and the boy calmed down. "It is his way of encouraging you, Enishi. Kamiya Kasshin Advanced Style isn't something you can master in a day or so even with years of training under your belt. The Tokkan Inazuma is only the most basic of the basics."  
  
Enishi heaved a sigh. "Maybe I'm going at it from the wrong angle." he thought out loud.  
  
Kaoru nodded. "Perhaps, I've never taught anyone but myself to do it before. Why don't you take a rest and I'll think on it?"  
  
Enishi chuckled and took Kaoru's advice. 'That's so typical of her.' he thought fondly. 'I'm the one who's failing her and she's decided that it's her fault. I'd better set her straight...'  
  
Kaoru watched Enishi sit down beside Yahiko and indulge in some casual verbal sparring with the boy. 'That's not exactly what I had in mind when I suggested he rest, but if fighting with Yahiko relaxes him then I have no room to throw stones. Kami knows I've seen some weird relaxation techniues in my life. Everything from washing laundry to smoking.'  
  
She walked off to the storage shed to retrieve another practice dummy... they were running low on them, perhaps it was time to invest in some new ones. Teaching Enishi her own techniques would be hard on them... especially while he was learning things like the Jinkourai and the Patto Rakurainou.  
  
'Maybe I need to explain the Tokkan Inazuma a bit better, Enishi said he understood the mechanics of the attack before... but maybe he doesn't really. Perhaps he only thinks he does. From the way he was using his bodken earlier I can tell that he's using the air pressure correctly and is using his ki to protect the wood, otherwise the bodken would have broken before the dummy.' she shook her head as she reached the shed and hauled out a dummy.  
  
By the time she returned to the practice groun, Enishi was up again and making a few practice swings... Kaoru watched him from behind her bangs as she set up the dummy.  
  
He was using a standard kendo stance, nothing special. His sword path was straight and of the beating style he preferred. Kaoru pursed her lips, he was relying to much on the power of his own arms instead the power of his ficticious opponent. She herself preferred a slashing style that allowed her to drop out from under her opponents strike and let them fall under the force of their own attack.  
  
Of course he would have gotten into the habit of using a beating strike when training Yahiko to encourage the boy to adopt the slashing style.  
  
"Enishi, you're punching again. You're not training Yahiko right now so don't focus too much on your own power." she chided him and he blushed.  
  
"Whoops, didn't realize." he apologized and altered his form. "Better?" he asked after a few practice strikes.  
  
"Better." she agreed. "Remember, the entirety of Kamiya Kasshin isn't strength verses strength. Your aim is to control the fight and manipulating the opponent into doing what -you- want him to do. Do whatever you have to do to get them down and staying that way."  
  
"Kamiya-sama never put it that way." Enishi complained.  
  
"Ue was a wonderful man," Kaoru agreed. "but he had too many scruples. We're out to protect life with a sword, killing our opponents would be hypocrisy. So to achieve our goal we have to resort to the dirty side of kenjutsu. You might say we're sacrificing many little morals for the Big one. Don't be afraid to kick your enemy on the balls if it means you won't have to kill him!"  
  
Enishi snorted with muffled laughter. "H-hai sensei!"  
  
Kaoru smiled and tapped her head. "Don't laugh, a big part of Kamiya Kasshin is up here. You're a bright boy, use that mind of yours."  
  
"I'm nineteen, do you think you could stop calling me a boy?" he asked painedly.  
  
Kaoru chuckled. "I'm ten years older than you, you're a boy to me and nineteen is younger than you think." she hefted her bodken. "Now, I'm going to try and explain the tokkan inazuma from another angle, ne? There are two basic forms of it; blocking, and cutting. Still with me?"  
  
Enishi nodded.  
  
Kaoru brought her bodken up as if blocking a sword.  
  
"All right, for a blocking tokkan inazuma you would punch with your bodken to stop the opponent's blade." she pushed her sword up for emphasis. "I think you've gotten that one. Use the Tokkan inazuma to block my strike, all right?"  
  
"All right..." Enishi brought his bodken up in a text-book block to counter the light tap Kaoru administered to his blade.  
  
From a normal standpoint, Enishi blocked Kaoru perfectly. His weight was centered and if he dipped his blade he could slip out from under her attack and land one on her ribs.  
  
Unfortunately, Kaoru wasn't watching from a normal viewpoint. She could see a tiny flicker of golden lightning around the tip of his blade, but she noticed that it didn't 'feel' like electricity. It felt more like... sand. He was attempting to cooy the 'lightning' effect. Understanding flooded her; Enishi had caught onto the trick of using his own ki to protect his weapon... but he was attempting to force it into manifesting in a way it was unsuited for!   
  
"Relax, Enishi." Kaoru counseled him as she stepped back and brought her bodken up again. "Let's try this one more time and now try not to think too hard about your ki. Just stick to the basics."  
  
"Huh?" a confused look appeared on Enishi's face. "I don't get what you're saying, I'm doing it the way you said to."  
  
Kaoru grinned. "I see, but just do as I say now... expect nothin. Your problem is that you're trying to make your tokkan inazuma like mine but our ki is inherently different. It will manifest in different ways."  
  
"Different?"  
  
She nodded. "Now, one more time and pull from the very depths of your soul. Show me what you really are." she took an offensive stance.  
  
Enishi took a defensive, his eyes drifted shut and he centered himself. 'draw from the very depths...' he thought. 'but what's there...'  
  
"Here I come." Kaoru warned him.  
  
Enishi's eyes snapped open as Kaoru ducked to one side and went for his unprotected flank. He twisted away like he'd been taught and brought his blade up just in time to sheild himself from a full fledged tokkan inazuma. Blue light bled in fading streakes off Kaoru's sword path, but despite the light show Enishi noticed that she pulled her blade forward and then down in a minute sawing motion just before she struck.  
  
Enishi's bodken didn't stand a chance, Kaoru's went through his weapon like a hot knife through butter. He dropped the useless hilt and danced out of the way of her next attack... she wasn't stopping!  
  
"Enishi!"  
  
He turned just in time to catch the fresh bodken Yahiko threw him. "Thanks runt!"  
  
Enishi shifted to the offensive and rushed Kaoru-- unless he'd missed his guess, Kaoru had just demonstrated the slicing tokkan inazuma for him!  
  
This time he went for an over-head cross strike that would allow him to see exactly what Kaoru did when she blocked him.  
  
Enishi poured his ki into the 'sheath' around his bodken and, even though he couldn't see, it began glowing with the same light as Kaoru's only golden. A phantom wind sprung up around him and he felt the sensation of a sandstorm building up around him.  
  
Kaoru's bodken slid through the air to block him and he saw tht just before the wooden blades me she flipped it in her hands so that he struck the flat. When he felt his blade 'bounce' back away from the edge of hers he knew what had happened. She'd used her ki and the motion of her bodken to create a tiny vaccum along the edge of her weapon. when the air rushed in to fill the void, the impact of air meeting air had knocked him back!  
  
She danced back and grinned at the expression on his face. "Your ki manisfests as a samiel!" she told him. "Do you understand now?"  
  
Enishi grinned. "Yeah."  
  
"Good, spend the rest of the day practicing until you've got it down." she instructed him.  
  
***  
  
Yahiko watched Enishi practice for a little while, until Kaoru left him to do a chore somewhere and it became boring and cold.  
  
He shuddered as another chill wind slipped down the collar of his gi. 'The weather is turning cold' he thought 'Kaoru came to stay with us just in august... it's november now. Wow, has it been three months already?' his eyes narrowed as something occured to him.  
  
The boy hopped lightly to his feet and fled for the inside of the dojo to check the calendar.  
  
It was november fifteenth.  
  
The anniversary of his Kaachan's death.  
  
Yahiko felt a little of his previous good cheer evaporate, but not too much.  
  
'Just last year I went to Kaachan's grave to be miserable.' he reflected. 'Back when I was working for the Shu-ei yakuza syndicate all I could do whenever Kaachan's anniversary rolled around was go feel sorry for myself... but this year.' he felt a smile tug at his lips. 'This year I'm happy for once.'  
  
Yahiko hummed to himself as he went to his room, dug out his small cache of pocket money, and counted it out. The was just enough for a bouquet of carnations to put on his mother's grave.  
  
'I've never been able to afford flowers for Kaachan's grave before.' he reflected as he shut the shoji screen to his room behind him.  
  
"Hey runt! where are you sneaking off to?" Enishi yelled at him as he crossed through the courtyard.  
  
"I'm going to visit Kaachan!" Yahiko bellowed right back, that was they way he and Enishi communicated. Yelling didn't mean anger or hatred, instead it was something of a personal joke.  
  
Enishi blinked. "Is it november already?" he asked in a normal tone of voice.  
  
Yahiko nodded. "Uh huh, time goes by fast now doesn't it?"  
  
Kaoru chose that moment to pass through the front hall with a basket full of laundry, she paused and waved at Enishi and Yahiko before moving on with her chores.  
  
"Never a dull moment." Enishi agreed while watching the older kenshi appreciatively.  
  
"If anyone wants me, I'll be at Tsukimine Shrine until noon." Yahiko told Enishi as he started on his way.  
  
"Hold on runt. Take this!"  
  
Yahiko caught the shinai Enishi threw to him.  
  
"Your Kaachan would want to see you with it." Enishi said gruffly.  
  
'A nice way of saying, 'in case the shu-ei boys decide to bother you again'. Yahiko thought drolly. "Good idea." he agreed out loud.  
  
*******************  
End chapter 18  
*****************  
  
Gee, this isn't much considering how long it took to get out... well at least it is out. 


	20. Chapter XVIV Tis a Ghostly Wind

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Chapter Nineteen; 'Tis a Ghostly North Wind That Blows

Theme Music: Linger - Jonatha Brooke

***

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."   
-Edmund Burke_, Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents, 1770_

***

AU- *Dramatic sigh* Thanx for the prompt and positive feedback for chappie 18, yes I am alive if plagued by school and parents (they don't approve of my 'time wasting hobby') well, poo on them I say. Still, updates will be few and far between for a while until my English 4 teacher gets over her 'essays for homework' phase… no end in sight.

Um, some of you mentioned a certain… decline, shall we say, in the quality of the last chapter. I agree, it is utter crap but I need it to lead into Yahiko's personal segment which I have kept putting off until now as well as get Enishi's skills polished up so he can start helping out in the fights. I guess every story has a slow chapter or two, well enough of me on with the show!

***

Yahiko whistled a jaunty tune as he strolled down the road that overlooked the canal. All his life it seemed that only good things could happen to him near the canal; he'd met Tsubame by the canal for example, and Enishi had first found him there in his private 'thinking spot'. Well, he'd been being beaten up at the time but that didn't count, sometimes those good things weren't always readily apparent as such.

He made for an odd sight; he was sure, with a shinai balanced against one shoulder and a wooden bucket holding cool water and bright red carnations in his other hand.

There were a few other people taking the same route to the cemetery as he and he recognized a few of them from the years before. One of them, an old homeless woman who wore bits of a western business suit, hung back and came to walk beside him.

Yahiko didn't know her name for they had never actually spoken to one another, but every year on this date they walked to the cemetery together and watched over each other as they prayed at the graves of their lost loved one's.

This year she'd changed her old brown jacket with the worn elbows for a new (to her) black one. Her silver streaked black hair was freshly washed and pulled back into a tight bun coiled on the nape of her neck. Actually, for a woman who begged for her daily bread she took better care of herself than some of the well-off people Yahiko knew. She smiled down at him as she fell into step beside him and Yahiko noticed that she had a happy white and yellow daisy perched behind her left ear.

The smile broadened as she saw the shinai and carnations. He might have been mistaken, but perhaps a flicker of pride had flashed through her worn gray eyes. Whatever the emotion, it was there and gone too soon for him to positively identify it before she looked away.

They walked like that for a while in silence, looking neither left or right until they reached the cemetery. First they approached her stops; a plain, worn stone marker in a sunken pauper's grave and a second elaborate one on the other side of the yard.

Before both of the graves the old woman dropped to her creaky knees and bowed her head with her hands folded beneath her chin. As always, she remained that way for a few minutes and then stood, brushed off her knees, and followed Yahiko to his mother's grave, which was just as worn and shabby as the first plot that the old woman visited.

The old woman held his shinai and bucket of carnations as he got to his knees and began to clear the weeds from around his mother's grave. With the small tanto he kept tucked into the back of hakama he trimmed down the stiff wiry grass until it was a uniform length. Then and only then he dashed the water onto the stone marker to rinse away the year's worth of dust and dirt that had accumulated over the year and set the carnations at the base of it.

This year, instead of kneeling and praying in the normal manner, he sat down cross-legged before his mother with his shinai balanced across his thighs.

"Ohayo, Kaa-chan. It's been a year already, ne? I'm a whole two inches taller than last year; I guess regular meals are paying off. Things are a lot better than last year; sometimes I have trouble believing its all real. I'm apprenticed to a Kenjutsu dojo, the resident Master treats me almost like an adopted son and my sensei is like the evil older brother I never had."

Yahiko closed his eyes as a cool wind sprang up and coiled around his body in an imitation of a mother's embrace.

"I knew you'd be glad, Kaa-chan." he whispered when the ghost wind died down. "I'm really happy there, for the first time in a while I can see a good future ahead of me."

He stood up and brushed off his pants. The cool wind surrounded him once more and he smiled. "You don't have to worry about me, Kaa-chan, I'm all-right now."

He turned away reluctantly, odd since he'd never been one for drawn out occasions. The old woman was watching him with an odd expression; it was half smiling, half worried and for the first time in their acquaintance, she spoke.

"This is a perilous path you've undertaken for yourself, young man," she said in a rusty contralto. "Both of my men were Kenshi and both died because of it; one in the Bakumatsu and the other in a bordello because he couldn't pay and wasn't as good as the yojimbo."

Yahiko blinked, a little stunned at the sudden advise. "It's better than eking out a life stealing old men's rice money for crooks, and the Kamiya Kasshin is about _helping _others."

"It doesn't matter what principles your school teaches you, boy." the old woman corrected him. "When it comes to the action it'll be you behind the blade with a life on the sharp side. It is you who decides whether or not to snuff that life out, spare it, or die yourself. Don't rely on your school's ideology to vindicate your actions."

"I don't want to go around slaughtering people at random, that's not why I decided to take up the sword." Yahiko said evenly. "If I didn't trust myself then I'd get a job at the Akabeko or something."

The old woman cocked her head. "Wise answer boy, I thought I'd noticed something different about you. You've been doing some growing up in the past year. Perhaps the sword will do you good, Kami knows it didn't improve either of my men a single lick."

He nodded, even if he had no idea what she meant by the reference to her 'men'.

She chuckled and nodded towards the gate. "Let's go, boy. The sun'll start going down soon. It's going to get colder then and I doubt your sensei will appreciate it if you catch a chill and slow down lessons and chores."

Yahiko obediently fell into stride by the old woman. "Why did you start speaking now, Obaa-sama? I don't think we've said a word to one another since we started this."

"Well, that first year I'd lost my voice to a sore throat and after that we seemed to get along well enough without words." she shrugged and the wind stirred the few loose strands of hair framing her face. "My first husband used to say, 'if it ain't broken, don't waste your time and effort trying to fix it.'"

It made sense.

Yahiko drug a hand through his hair and glanced up at the sky where the sun was already beginning its descending arc towards the horizon. A smile tugged his lips as he contemplated what awaited him at home.

Supper would be ready by then and he'd probably be met Kaoru by the gate as she lit their street lantern. No doubt Kaori would be tagging along in her mother's footsteps and that would be the perfect opportunity to tease her; she always turned the most spectacular shade of red when she was pissed. When Kaori got through with him then Enishi would materialize with after-supper chores/training as punishment for picking on her.

He grinned, it had been a while since he'd looked forward to going home, but now with the memory of his bondage to the yakuza fresh in his mind he remembered how good he had it.

The old woman suddenly stopped in her tracks and Yahiko stopped beside her, he didn't need to ask why. He had eyes to see with.

Before the cemetery gate there lounged two common street toughs who flanked one lean figure garbed in a purple yukata: Monnosuke, the 'hitokiri' of the Yakuza.

"Figured you'd be here, runt," he said in that slippery voice of his.

The old woman turned and walked off to one side. Yahiko didn't mind he appreciated the moving space.

"Wow, Monnosuke." Yahiko grunted. "I'm _impressed_, after five years you finally picked up on the fact that I visit my mother on the anniversary of her death. Bravo!"

Monnosuke cocked an eyebrow. "You've gotten cocky, _punk_. You've only been training a few months and you think you can mouth off to your betters?"

"Nope, I _never _mouth off to my betters," Yahiko lied. "But you guys are a safe bet." he lowered his shinai from its resting place on his shoulder.

The yakuza hit man had never been one to let an insult slide, so Yahiko could easily predict his initial rush. After his years under the man's thumb, Yahiko knew what attacks he used in which situations and now with even a small amount of training he could see how he could turn Monnosuke's entire style against him.

Monnosuke had been a kendo student with a taste for blood who had left his dojo in search of easy money and easy victims. His fighting style was also largely influenced by his business like approach to life; it was highly practical with no excess movements and all flash and style discarded… which made him absurdly easy to second-guess.

Yahiko stepped casually to one side and caught Monnosuke in the ribs with the hilt of his shinai. That was another tip he'd picked up from Kaoru, his weapon wasn't an actual sword and in a _real _fight he had a distinct advantage in that his opponent expected him to use it _as _a real sword. Still, Yahiko pushed Monnosuke off balance and smashed the bamboo sword into the back of his skull.

Unfortunately his strike wasn't hard enough to knock his opponent out and Monnosuke got out of Yahiko's reach. On the flip side, he was now slightly off balance and had a pain in the back of his head to fight past.

Yahiko pulled his defense back in close to himself; here Monnosuke would let his temper get the best of him and rush in again. His defense would be weakest in mid-attack and Yahiko, being a smaller and faster target, could get in another shot.

However it didn't happen that way. Unbeknownst to both of the combatants, a tall man had spied the goings-on from outside the cemetery. When Monnosuke had escaped Yahiko's range he'd not only entered the newcomer's, but also presented him with his back. 

He delivered a laser-precise nerve tap to the back of his head with the edge of his flattened hand; Monnosuke crumpled to the ground and the old woman began to clap.

"A cemetery is a place of peace," the man said quietly. "Those who enter its demesne must respect its residents lest they join them."

Ignoring Monnosuke's street toughs for the moment, Yahiko took a good look at the man who'd interfered in the fight (not that he wasn't grateful). He was roughly six feet tall with dark olive skin and green eyes. His hair had been shaved completely off and he wore slightly the baggy farm wife's trousers and gi made from a rough, un-dyed linen of a priest. The only color to his ensemble was mahogany staff he carried in one hand and the emerald sash thrown over his right shoulder and tucked into his belt.

He also bore a scar over his blinded left eye.

"You're Aoyama Kaneda, aren't you." Yahiko deadpanned.

The priest blinked his one good eye and indicated himself with a finger as if to say, 'who me?'

"Um… yes?" he smiled uneasily. "Ah, how do you know me?"

"Kaori says to stop skulking around and just come to the Dojo." Yahiko reported faithfully.

The priest blinked again and then laughed. "I should have known she'd be expecting me! That little vixen is too sharp for her own good."

Yahiko sweat dropped. "Yeah, something like that." out of the corner of his eye, he watched Monnosuke's goons slink off… probably to go get help from the Yakuza boss.

"Are you going to go after them?" Kaneda asked curiously.

"Nah." Yahiko said flippantly. They'd be back with a small army; he'd be an idiot to stick around for them. It would be best to skedaddle home and tell Kaoru what happened. Besides, he needed to see that the old woman got out of the area safely and get Kaneda back to the Dojo where he could face the Wrath of Kaori.

The old woman walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Same time next year?" she said quietly and he nodded with a smile.

Kaneda bowed to the old woman as she passed him. "Sayonara, Obaa-sama."

Yahiko didn't watch the old woman leave, that was another part of the 'ritual'. He sighed quietly and gestured to Kaneda. "C'mon, I'll take ya to the dojo."

Kaneda bowed slightly. "I thank you, I've been looking forward to seeing Kaori again. Is Kaoru-sama around?"

"She hasn't wandered off, if that's what you mean." Yahiko said carefully. "She says she plans on staying indefinitely."

"Ah, that's a pity then." Kaneda shouldered his staff and trotted over to where Yahiko was walking. "The Abbot was looking forward to her return this winter, he has a new technique that he wishes to try against another swordsman. Well, I'm sure a kenshi will wander through Iron Mountain again for him to use as a guinea pig."

The younger swordsman sweat dropped. "Okay…"

The monk continued on without pause. "I noticed how you fought that thug." he commented. "You've studied under Kaoru-sama? I recognized her footwork in you, as well as those mind-games she favors."

"Half of a duel is mental." Yahiko quoted somewhat uneasily, something about the monk's chatter set him off balance. He was used to long stretches of peaceful silence since no one who was a permanent resident of the dojo was overly verbose. More action and less talk was what he was accustomed to.

All at once he found himself ducking aside and swinging up his shinai as Kaneda brought his staff down in an arc that would have intersected with his head had he not dodged in time.

"What the hell!" he cursed. "What's wrong with you?!"

Kaneda smiled beatifically. "You've trained your instincts well, your guard is never entirely down. I suspected so when I saw you fight but I wanted to be sure. You're a credit to your sensei; a fit successor to the Kamiya Dojo."

Yahiko made a face at him. "Kaori's right, much as I hate to agree with Tanuki-chan, but you're crazy!" he got to his feet.

He flashed the V-ictory sin at the ten year old. "You betcha. Shall we go?"

***

"Uh oh."

Kaoru glanced up at Raven, who was sitting up on a branch hanging over Kaoru's head as she gutted the fish Sanosuke had donated to supper that night. The Watcher woman had an odd expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Rav-chan? She asked, surreptitiously wiping her hands off on her hakama and reaching for her bokken.

"Nothing urgent, but this will complicate things." the dark haired woman cocked her head. "but it may put some overdue things in motion." she grinned. "It may be a good omen."

"A good omen?" Kaoru cocked an eyebrow. "Dare I ask?"

"You'll see."

***********  
End Chapter Nineteen  
***********  
Seiyuu; Gratze to my new beta, Crystal Menina! All bow to her!


	21. Chapter XX The First Path to Truth

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Chapter Twenty; The First Path to Truth

Theme Music; She's every woman - Garth Brooks

***********

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do something I can do." 

- Helen Keller

************

AU- Good goddess, I hardly know what to do with myself. Another chapter, I guess the free time I prayed for is now here! I wish it could have come in a better form. I wrecked my car on Sunday the 3 on the way home from Houston; it's totaled and my mobility is severely restricted so now I actually have nothing better to do than stay home and write chapters of RK.

…

STOP CHEERING!

*************

Kaoru was in the kitchen.

At one point in her life this would have been justified reason for mass panic. However those days were over, strangely enough. Now her cooking was cause for widespread celebration (it meant neither Kaori or Enishi had cooked). 

Silver fished scales rained down onto the wooden cutting board and she ran the sharp edge of a cleaver against the side of a shining sea bream. She looked up as a soft whistling emitted from the pot over the fire where the rice was cooking.

Kaoru used her bokken to ease the pot over to the edge of the flame so the steaming grain wouldn't scorch, yet would stay warm for supper.

Just as she returned to scaling the fish, Kaori trotted into the kitchen. Kaoru noted the odd expression on her daughter's face with a raised eyebrow; Kaori seemed to be stuck somewhere between amusement and annoyance, but closer to amusement.

"Expect one more for supper," she reported. "Yahiko brought someone home with him!"

'Ah.' Kaoru thought. 'That must be what Raven meant.'

"Do you know whom?" she asked.

"Yup." Kaori nodded. "Kaneda finally crawled out of hiding. I'm going to turn out a room for him."

Kaoru startled herself with a chuckle. "Well, its not as if we weren't expecting him. Where is he?"

"Making life difficult for Enishi-kun." Kaori's pretty mouth turned down in a sour little frown. "Enishi is showing him around the dojo, but…"

"But what? Musume?" Kaoru prodded gently.

"I don't know." Kaori shook her head. "Maybe it's just me. Do you need anything?"

The kenshi woman leaned her head on one shoulder and crossed her arms in a thoughtful pose. "Hmm… I'll be starting some saké -broiled sea bream once I finish scaling the fish, but I just found out we're out of cooking saké . Could you go to Hiko and ask him to either donate some of his stock or nip out for some more?"

Kaori saluted. "Will do, Kaa-chan!"

"Dismissed, soldier!"

The ten year old pivoted on her heel and marched out of the kitchen, stopped as soon as she was out the door and ran off to Hiko's rooms with a giggle.

Kaoru smiled as her daughter left. Just as the girl turned a corner, Aoshi leaned into the room.

"The coast is clear," she told him.

Aoshi withdrew a packet from his trench coat and commandeered a teapot. He was quiet as he started the tea -his own personal blend- but as soon as the water was on, he accepted another cleaver from Kaoru and started in on another fish.

"I don't see why you don't want anyone to know you like to cook," she said indifferently. "You treat it like it's a state secret."

"The Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu does not sully himself with common labor." Aoshi quoted. "So sayeth my predecessor, Makimachi Mikito."

"Its all-right for you to do the Oniwabanshuu accounts but not the actual chores?"

"Apparently." Aoshi shrugged. "At the Aoiya, Okon and Omasu were uncomfortable with me in the kitchen. It puts one on edge to have one's leader hanging over one's shoulder."

"That makes sense."

With sparse yet precise movements Aoshi divested the sea bream of its head and tail, de-boned it, and reduced it to two pale fillets.

"We'll need six tonight." Kaoru told him. "Kaneda finally turned up."

Aoshi nodded without comment, but Kaoru sensed approval from the laconic ninja; it had been bugging him that there was always a fillet of fish going to waste in the dojo when anything but whole fish were being served. Of course, he was too polite to say anything.

"Hanya has received word from our contacts in Izu." he commented. "You're right, there is an underground movement there headed by one Isurugi Raijuta. I've arranged for the local weapons-dealers to 'run out' of stock and a goodly portion of his 'army' is being arrested by the police for past misbehavior or on the run from creditors who've been tipped off as to their location. By the time get there, Hanya will have Raijuta-san stripped of his resources." he broke off and glanced at the door.

Kaoru didn't react as Aoshi set down his cleaver and departed the kitchen just before a shadow filled the door to the kitchen. Hiko set down a jug of saké on the flint counter with a grunt.

"I'll get more later." he told her, which meant he hadn't wanted to go out to buy more saké and possibly be late for dinner which was synonymous with getting _no _dinner in this household. "How long?"

"Just long enough to cook the fish." Kaoru told him. "Another hour for all of them."

"I meant the bald boy."

Kaoru cocked an eyebrow. "Desu ka?"

"Kaneda." Hiko clarified. "How long is he staying?" 

She shrugged. "I have no idea. The Abbot at Iron Mountain may have sent him to keep an eye on Kaori; in that case he'd be here indefinitely. On the other hand he just might be visiting… I wouldn't count on it though."

Hiko looked like he might say something foul.

__

Ah, Kaneda had been displaying his dazzling intellect and rapier wit already. Hiko had never made any pretense of liking the young monk when he visited the Monastery. It was her prediction that the entire dojo would no doubt be after his blood within three days… or less.

"He's really not so bad." Kaoru said lamely.

"So says you," he retorted. "You always try to see the best in others, regardless of whether or not its actually there."

Kaoru did her patented eyebrow raise. "Well, he's spent the past several years guarding my daughter, excuse me if I'm biased. He's also a perfectly charming young man. I think if you just let him be, you'll find he'll grow on you."

"So will fungus." he said pithily. 

Kaoru winced cutely with her eyes squeezed shut and a small smile. "Well-- yes but…"

Hiko shook his head. "Never mind, Ru-chan, I'll tolerate him for you and Kaori's sake, but if he ever says anything about my drinking habits again…" he left the sentence hanging.

Kaoru winced, she remembered the time Kaneda had suggested that Hiko get help for his 'alcohol problem' two winters ago-- it was not pretty. She wouldn't be surprised if the hole Hiko had made in the Monastery's roof with Kaneda's head was still there.

Rule #1 for a happy life with Seijuro Hiko: Never tell him he has an alcohol problem.

Hiko's eyes dropped down to the discarded cleaver on the board at Kaoru's elbow. He glanced back up at her quizzically.

"Kaori was helping before I sent her off," she said flippantly.

"Hey, Kaoru…"

Kaoru glanced towards the outside gate, where Yahiko had poked in his head. He had an empty wooden bucket with him and a shinai tucked into his belt. 

"Where do you want this?" He held up the bucket. "I borrowed to go visit Kaa-chan's grave."

"In the back by the root vegetables." She tossed her head in the applicable direction. "Do you have practice now?"

"Nah. Enishi's too busy trying to be nice to the Monk. Do you need something?"

"Yes, Kaori's turning out a room for Kaneda-kun, could you go help her? Then you'll both be done in time for dinner."

Yahiko heaved a dramatic sigh. "All right."

Hiko gave him a good-natured smack on the back of the head as he left to 'help Kaori' to remind him of his manners. "I'll get out of your way." He said to Kaoru and followed the boy out.

"You can come out now." Kaoru called to Aoshi and was rewarded by seeing him drop down out of the rafters and return to scaling fish.

She didn't even sigh, that's how used to the weirdness she was.

***

About an hour later, as she'd predicted, dinner was served and anyone over twenty found themselves fighting for their meals against three hungry young men.

To be fair, neither Hiko nor Kaoru had much of a problem; no one would bother Kaoru's meal since she was responsible for its existence and no one bothered Hiko's food because he'd rip their lungs out if they did. 

Normally Kaori found herself having to fend Yahiko's chopsticks off and eat at the same time, although Enishi 'avenged her honor' by snitching food off Yahiko's tray while he was occupied. Not tonight, however, tonight Kaneda displayed a dismaying propensity to break any chopsticks that got too near her tray.

It was actually something to watch because he did it so very quickly that one could scarcely see him do it.

Kaoru and Hiko were the only ones at the table who found nothing amiss with that, however they'd both been to the Monastery where it was 'every man for himself' at mealtimes.

Kaori was resigned to it. Kaneda had been her self-appointed guardian since she'd been born practically. Personally, she believed she was better served by being allowed to defend herself like Enishi did, but she couldn't expect Kaneda to understand that.

Enishi on the other hand was suddenly grappling with some very uncomfortable emotions, not in the least of them was guilt; it had never occurred to him to stop Yahiko from bothering Kaori. She'd always seemed able to look after herself, but all of a sudden he wasn't seeing her as a ten-year-old martial artist in training anymore…

Oddly enough, Yahiko was the only person other than Kaoru and Hiko noticed Kaori's annoyance over being 'defended', but he didn't care. He was more interested in the fact that Enishi's guard over his supper was delightfully low!

"Kaneda-kun, did Kaori tell you that we'll be going to Izu for a holiday in a few days?" Kaoru asked the young monk as she refilled his rice bowl.

"No, she didn't!" Kaneda grinned, an expression somehow made all the more sunny by the odd twist of his blinded eye. "I hope you have room for one more, I can pay my way."

"You're always welcome, Kaneda-kun." Kaoru assured him-- she'd cleared it with the other before supper and if the vote wasn't unanimous it was a majority… barely.

"When exactly are we leaving?" he pressed.

"The day after tomorrow." Enishi said coolly. "If that's too soon for you, you can always stay here at the dojo."

Kaneda's expression took a turn for the predatory. "Oh no, Yukishiro-san. I'm quite used to _large _amounts of traveling. _I _certainly won't hold _you _back."

Kaoru blinked in surprise at the masterfully veiled insults in Kaneda's tone. What surprised her even more was the way Enishi reacted to it.

'What's this?' she thought. 'This isn't like Kaneda at all! What's gotten into him… and into Enishi for that matter?"

She got her answer a few minutes later when Kaori tripped as she got up fetch more tea from the kitchen. Enishi and Kaneda cracked their foreheads when they leapt up to catch her. Kaori caught her balance easily as they fell back into their seats clutching their bruised heads.

Kaoru could have groaned, or laughed, or gotten angry, but instead she found herself just incredibly tired.

'She's only ten years old and already she's stirring up this sort of thing!' she shook her head and noticed the semi-disgusted look on Kaori's face-- well, she _was _aware of what was going on, if only in part. 'At least she isn't enjoying it.' Kaoru consoled herself. 'It'd be very difficult if I suddenly found myself with a budding tease on my hands.'

Things did not noticeably improve over the next few days.

Kaneda took to shadowing Kaori wherever she went, and while this was not abnormal behavior for him, Enishi took it very badly. Suddenly Kaori was expected to help him at every lesson and when there were no lessons then there were chores to be done; chores that kept Kaori, and subsequently Kaneda, where he could keep an eye on them.

Kaoru was worried, Hiko thought it was hilarious, Aoshi politely didn't notice it, the Oniwabanshuu sided with Enishi, Misao counseled Kaori to drop them both, Yahiko was beginning to root for Kaneda if only because he was being cooler about it all than Enishi.

Although she would have liked to say something to the territorial boys, Kaoru's hands were full planning their 'holiday' to Izu. Aoshi had arranged for another quarter of Raijuta's men to have crippling 'accidents' and suddenly large burly ex-soldier servants were turning up in all the well-to-do mansions to discourage any infiltrations by what agents he had left.

The only clean-up left to do was Raijuta himself and his closest circle of fighters, Hanya had attempted to include them in his earlier 'tidying up' but they had proved to be elusive.

'It seems there will be something of a show-down in Izu after all.' Kaoru thought as she watched Kaori swing herself into the concealing branches of one of the courtyard trees while Kaneda and Enishi were busy staring one another down.

She might have continued her thoughts in a similar tone but just then a set of pale arms slipped around her neck and the scent of hibiscus surrounded her as a body with too many curves and too few clothes pressed itself up against her back.

"Kao-saaaaan!!!!" Megumi cried happily as she tightened her grip on the kenshi woman's neck.

"GurK!" Kaoru's eyes bulged slightly as Megumi unintentionally cut off her air supply. The strangulating noises she made attracted Enishi, who was just about to pull out his bokken and start dealing out damage to Kaneda.

"Takani-san!" Enishi loomed over the two women like a specter of death.

Megumi made a face at him, oblivious to her own impending end. Luckily, she did loosen her grip on Kaoru as she focused her attention on Enishi."Ohayo, Enishi-_chan_!" she cooed. "I was just saying good morning to _my _Kao-san!"

There might have been stronger words spoken, but Kaoru didn't stick around to hear it. 

***

Kaori scooted to one side as her mother alighted on the branch beside her.

"Ohayo, Kaa-chan." she said in an undertone and Kaoru ruffled her hair.

"Let's go up another branch. Megumi always spots me on this one, I think the cover is better higher up."

So together the beset mother and daughter climbed higher into their tree to wait out the storm.

**************

End Chapter Twenty

**************

Seiyuu; I say unto you again, be careful what you wish for. Does anyone know what Raijut's sur name is? I put a blank there 'cause I can't remember!


	22. Chapter XXI On The Road Again

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Chapter Twenty-One: On The Road Again…

Theme Music: Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden

**********

"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death."   
-_Thomas Paine_

**********

AU-

**********

Rope bridges.

WHY Rope bridges?

Kaoru had faced and conquered nearly all of what she considered her personal defects; toxic cuisine, her temper, weakness, but she still had one hurdle to leap-- her fear of heights.

"Come on Kaa-chan, its just a little bridge!" Kaori cajoled her mother, who had her arms wrapped around one of the posts securing the bridge to the cliff face.

"No thanks, Musume." Kaoru replied in a curiously calm tone of voice. "You go on ahead. "I'll just take the long way across."

Kaori cast a helpless glance across the canyon to where Enishi, Yahiko, the Oniwabanshuu, and Kaneda awaited them. "We can't just let you take that path down the cliff and then climb back up the other side, that's three times as long and as dangerous! What's so different about this?"

"Let her do as she pleases." Hiko counseled Kaori as he scowled and gestured for her to move.

Fast as lightning he lashed out at Kaoru, whose instincts took over and launched her to one side… unfortunately Hiko had positioned himself well and the only place for her to dodge to was the bridge, which her subconscious mind accepted as an acceptable escape route.

Kaoru squeaked as she realized where she was and started to get back off the bridge, but Hiko planted himself in her path with sword drawn and an unholy grin plastered across his mouth.

"You _wouldn't_!" she hissed at him.

"I _would_!" he shot back.

"I HATE you!"

Kaori gasped. "Don't say that Kaa-chan!" she cried with her hands clasped under her chin.

Kaoru winced at the watery, big-eyed, oh-so tragic expression her daughter was giving her. Oh, she knew very well that Kaori didn't mean one iota of it, but it was just one of those things that she did that Kaoru, as her mother, had no defense against.

"OH ALL RIGHT!" she cried in defeat. "I'll go!"

Kaoru slowly turned around on the bridge. She swallowed hard and held the rope handrails with a white knuckled grip then she took a step.

The bridge rocked terrifyingly (to her) as she followed that step with another, and another, and another until suddenly Enishi and Aoshi had a grip on her upper arms and were leading her off to one side as Kaori and Hiko both crossed the bridge.

"Are you all right, Kaa-chan?" Kaori cried as soon as she was over.

Kaoru glanced up and smiled wanly. "Fine, aijou."

"Well, at least that's over." Hiko commented.

Kaoru glared at him. "_Hiretsukan_!" she snarled and went for her bokken.

*Aijou- beloved daughter (Kaoru only says this when she's very shaken)

*Hiretsukan- mean bastard || sneak || heel || despicable person  


Hiko leapt back dramatically from Kaoru's attack. "Whoa! Hey Ru-chan!" He leapt straight up to avoid a slash at his legs. "Calm down! It was for your own good!"

"Kisama! Stay still and die like a man!"

"Kaa-chan! Stop it!" Kaori latched onto her mother's arm. "You're not in your right senses right now! Kill him later, once you've had a chance to calm down!"

Kaoru let her daughter hold her back. While a body shuddering sigh, she sheathed her bokken; Hiko's life was safe--- for now.

"Oh thanks, Kaori!" Hiko griped but subsided under the combined glares of Kaoru, Enishi, and Kaneda.

Megumi slid up beside Kaoru and gently steered her towards the path to the Inn where they would be staying. For once Kaoru allowed herself to be led by the doctor even though she normally _knew _she wouldn't like where Megumi would to lead her.

The rest of the group fell in behind them and they all walked in silence for a bit, out of respect for Hiko's near death experience. The only sound made was the _flick-flick _of a fan as Megumi flicked one open and closed with elaborate motions of her wrist.

Sanosuke was the one to break the silence. "What is up with that thing, Megitsune? You've been playing with it ever since we left Tokyo!"

"I'm strengthening my wrists." she informed him. She turned her head and beamed at Kaoru. "My Kao-san recommended the exercise when I asked her how I could work up my wrists."

"Why do you need to have stronger wrists?" Misao chirped.

"Various reasons." Megumi said blithely. "Mostly so I can grind an finer powder with one of those western mortar and pestles; they're easier on the knees than a Japanese grinder, especially if I need to make smaller doses."

"Perhaps something heavier than a fan would be more… effective?" Aoshi suggested quietly.

Megumi smirked and flicked the fan shut. "Here." she held it out to him with the ebony handle out towards him.

The ninja accepted the fan and then swore and she released it. "Damnation, woman! This thing must weigh ten kan!"

Kaoru coughed discreetly. "The individual segments of the fan are hollow so thy can have a lead bit inserted into it. Megumi has about half the slots filled right now, she'll add more as her arms and wrists strengthen. When it's full it should weigh about twenty-five kan."

Sanosuke whistled appreciatively. "Wow, judging from the way you were swinging that thing around earlier you're wrists must be plenty strong by now."

"Why stop halfway?" Megumi chirped and resumed her 'exercises', now that she had an appreciative audience she began to toss the fan in spectacular arcs and performing impressive flips when she caught it.

Kaoru smiled, feeling somewhat proud of Megumi's accomplishment, for she'd had quite a lot to do with it and the feats she performed now reflected not only a large amount of effort and creativity on Megumi's part but also her progress concerning her confidence.

There had been a time when Megumi turned and ran whenever she met a man she didn't know, she'd even been uncomfortable around men she did know.

Then one day, a few weeks ago, Megumi had appeared in the Kitchen while Kaoru had been cooking lunch…

*** Flashback***

"Excuse me?" Kaoru asked with a blink. "You want me to --what?"

Megumi drew herself up a little straighter. "Teach me to fight, Kao-san."

Kaoru set down the greens she'd been rinsing when Megumi had come out with her bizarre request. "You're a doctor, Megumi. Inflicting injuries and causing injuries are hardly…"

"I know that!"

Kaoru straightened at Megumi's tone. "Well, Megumi, with an attitude like that I don't know if you'd take to learning sword work. Especially if you want to learn because of what Kanryuu did to you."

Megumi flinched and wrapped her arms around herself. "You know what this is like, Kaoru. I can't live like this. I'm afraid of everything, of every_one_, even Sano. He doesn't deserve that… but I can't help it."

Kaoru wiped her hands off on her apron. "You're right, I do know what you're feeling right now; every single flinch and start. I'll tell you now, fighting skills won't help. In fact your frame of mind will only hurt your skills." she paused to take in the expression on Megumi's face. "However I'd learned sword work a long time before… that, and we're hardly the same person."

"I just need to know that I can defend myself if I need to." Megumi pled. "I used to be able to tell myself it would never happen, but now I can't because it has… I just can't fool myself that way."

Understanding lit in Kaoru's eyes. "You want your confidence back."

Megumi exhaled gustily. "_Yes_."

***end Flashback***

After nearly four week of nearly endless drills in jujitsu, kung fu, tactics, terrain advantage, and a whole lot of 'wrist exercise' Megumi had a fairly lethal style of fighting all her own. The only thing she lacked now was practical experience.

The fan Megumi was flicking around was just a practice weapon, the real fan was a gorgeous affair made of shining oak and lapis colored silk. The oak blades of the fan were reinforced with a discreet plate of sword steel.

Megumi had christened it 'Kuchinashi Kaoru ' in honor of the way she claimed Kaoru smelled.

…

For her part, Kaoru hadn't been aware that she smelled like jasmine (she didn't wear perfume) but as long as she didn't smell like a sumo wrestler on a hot day she was happy.

Kaori pounced on her arm. "Look Kaa-chan! There's the mansion!" she cried and pointed down the road.

From beneath the tree cover rose the graceful turrets and gables of an elegant western-style mansion. Kaoru smiled softly; this mansion held some very tender memories for her.

'I wonder if Yutaro will remember his auntie 'Onna'?' she wondered idly. 'He was only five when I last saw him at his father's funeral.'

Yutaro's tou-chan had been the first to coin the nick-name 'Raiden no Onna', before that she'd just been 'Raiden' which was unfortunately the same nickname he'd earned for himself. Finally, after months of being accredited (or blamed) for one another's deeds they tracked each other down and had it out.

Since Kaoru hadn't wanted the name in the first place it reverted to its original owner and suddenly she found herself with one worse; 'Raiden no Onna'. It could translate as 'Lady of Thunder and Lightening' or as 'woman of Raiden'. That last one made for some awkward assumptions about their relationship.

'Nah. He won't remember me, even if I had to give him a pony ride two times around the compound.' she thought affectionately. 'He's had too much to do in his life since his tou-chan died.'

"It's so big!" Yahiko murmured. "How can one person live in all that space?"

"It was built by a western architect." Kaoru told him. "In Europe and America there's a lot more space to spread out so they build accordingly. Our buildings feel cramped to them; the man who commissioned this house was raised in Texas even though he was Japanese. He said he wanted to room to 'stretch out'."

A collective sigh rose from her companions.

"… and I know this because we were friends, hence how I got use of the lake house." she finished pointedly.

"Let's face it." Sanosuke chuckled. "Our Kaoru knows everything!"

"I do not!"

"What did I have for breakfast?" he pressed.

Kaoru scowled. "That's not fair! I _cooked _breakfast!"

"See, you DO know everything!" Sanosuke smirked only to dodge a bokken a second later. He grinned at her as he move in and out of her reach, dodging her semi-serious attempts to do him damage.

"Stay still and die like a man!" Kaoru muttered.

Sanosuke tired of the game and stopped eluding her around the same time she stopped attacking. "Tempting, Kaoru, but no."

She stuck her tongue out at him and 'sheathed' her bokken. "You're not worth the sweat I'd work up killing you." she snarled playfully.

Sanosuke clutched his chest and rocked back on his heels. "Ouch, it bites!" he cried dramatically eliciting many a roll of eyes from their traveling companions.

"The road does not grow shorter" Aoshi reminded them softly. "and it grows dark and cool. I would just as soon spend the night in a warm house with a fire to warm me."

"Aoshi-sama has been reading poetry again." Misao whispered as an aside to Kaori. Aoshi glared at her and she smiled back, oozing innocence out her ears.

Kaoru noted the exchange with interest; for one Aoshi seemed to be loosening up more than she thought possible for the reticent man, and also his relationship with Misao seemed to have evolved by leaps and bounds while she hadn't been watching. He certainly seemed comfortable around the ninja-girl to show his emotions… or maybe it was Kaoru and co. he was growing more comfortable with, maybe he and Misao had been like this all along.

'Nice to know things can get along without me standing over them.' she thought happily. 'I've never been so glad to become obsolete!'

Kaori chose then to latch back onto her mother's arm. "Heyas, Kaachan!"

"Yes, musume?" she turned her head gracefully towards her daughter.

"I was wondering if we could, you know, spar while we're out here." she said hesitantly. "We used to spar all the time back on Iron Mountain so I… I just kind of miss it, you know?"

Kaoru nodded. "It sounds good to me, Aijou, I think you're ready to start with ki manipulations and since Sano will be around consistently now I think we'll us him as a practice dummy."

"Emphasis on the 'dummy' part." Kaori said pitching her voice so Sanosuke could hear.

"I'll make you eat those words, jou-chan!" Sanosuke said ominously.

Kaori blew a raspberry at him and hugged her mother's elbow. "Arigotou gozaimasu, Kaa-chan!!!" she giggled. "Daisuki!"

Kaoru chuckled and ruffled her daughter's hair, it was times like this that she'd really missed when she'd been Ronin. She freed her arm from Kaori's grip and wrapped it around the girl's shoulders. "Mou, I'm looking forward to those mineral springs!"

"Considering the _injuries _you've been inflicting on your poor body, it's no small wonder." Megumi commented acerbically from Kaoru's left.

The kenshi woman grinned sheepishly at her sometimes-admirer/sometimes-torturer. "Ite, Meg-chan, let's not dwell on the negative, ne?"

Megumi set a glare that should have frozen water on Kaoru, but dropped the subject and returned to her fan exercises. "I have to admit, those hot springs do sound heavenly after all the stress we've been through. All we'll have to worry about is pruney fingers and peeping toms."

Misao grinned. "Hey, Megistune! You've got possibly the best swordswoman in Japan, a fully trained ninja, and Kaori to beat the gahoolies out of any guy stupid enough to take a look."

"… never mind the fact that anybody peeping would laugh themselves to death the moment they laid eyes on the underdeveloped tanuki and itachi." Sanosuke drawled.

"Ya wanna die, tori-atama!?" Misao and Kaori screeched.

Kaoru was about to intervene when all at once, every sensitive fighter in the group momentarily froze and went for their weapons; the Oniwabanshuu vanished into the forest cover and everyone else dropped hands to weapons or assumed discrete defendable positions. For her part, Kaoru stepped in front of the children, who also had their own guards up.

The ki came from behind them, by her guess they were just getting off the rope bridge and would come into view in a few seconds. Already she could hear voices.

"What's wrong anata? You've gone still all of a sudden." came a soft, mellow contralto.

A husky male voice answered her. "There are many strong warriors on the road ahead, koi, please stay back here."

"Oh no!" the woman's voice groaned. "Not again! We'll be late at this rate, I told you to wear a kasa. I swear, you must have fought every ex-samurai with a chip an his shoulder that live between here and Kyoto!"

Enishi dropped his guard. "It can't be…" he said softly.

Kaoru too was off-kilter, the voices from beyond the bend of the road were… familiar somehow. Where had she…

Just then a short man in a dark blue gi and pale gray hakama stepped into view. He moved like a shadow and even though he had bright red hair that went down to his mid back he seemed... Dark was the only word Kaoru could think of. The only thing bright about him was the feral glow of amber eyes that shone through his bangs. He carried a katana and wakizashi in the belt of his pants, his hand was on the katana and had just popped the sheath.

"K-kenshin…?" Kaoru whispered.

"Kenshin!" Enishi said at the same time, only louder and while her strode forward towards his brother in law. "You got my letter!"

Kenshin blinked once, twice and suddenly he seemed… brighter all of a sudden. Except for his eyes, they faded from living gold to a muddy brown. A false smile eased over his face like an overly familiar friend. "Enishi, it's you. Your sister will be pleased, but please ask your companions to leave the forest. I will not allow Tomoe to join us until I can see every one with you."

His entire speech was delivered in an impersonal monotone and no emotion moved through his eyes. Kaoru wasn't quite sure she understood what she was seeing…

"… see what I meant?" Hiko said in a sotto voice. "Can you tell me that there's any life in him. He only seemed to be alive when he was about to fight."

Kaoru nodded numbly. "I see, Hiko. He's spiritually numb." now that he was closer, she could _feel _it even. While initially impressive, there was a stagnant quality to Kenshin's ki. It was as if his spirit had neither grown nor atrophied over the years, but instead had hung in a sort of limbo. While he was not 'dead' he was no longer growing and changing, something vital to the 'human' element of ki.

'Oh god, Kenshin, what have I done to you?' she wondered in shock.

When Kenshin glanced at Kaoru and Hiko to see what they were whispering about, his eyes widened and something that might have been violet flickered through his irises before being re-consumed by the brown.

"Shisho, ah… konnichiwa." he said hesitantly. "I did not expect to see you here."

Hiko grunted and turned to stalk down the road to the inn. "I'll get directions to our cabin, Kaoru." he growled back at Kaoru.

"Thank you, Hiko." she called back.

"Kaoru?!" There was rustling in the forest and a woman in dark green kimono burst out. She paused and visually searched the area. "KAORU!" she beamed and suddenly Kaoru found herself with a double armful of Himura Tomoe and no idea about what to do with her.

*******

End Chapter 21

*******


	23. Chapter XXII Maybe She's An Angel

******************

Chapter Twenty-Two; Maybe She's an Angel

******************

"Fall seven times, stand up eight."   
-_Japanese Proverb_

******************

AU- Okay, here's the part you've all been clamoring for, well one of the parts you've all been clamoring for. As for the ever present question of 'How are you going to get K and K together if Tomoe's still around' will be answered soon… although I'd be surprised if some of you haven't already guessed!

Wow, as of this publication chapter 21 has collected 35 reviews. I thought you guys would be happy about that last bit. ^.^ but WOW! I love you all.

******************

Tomoe was looking, for lack of a better term, beautiful. She was beautiful in the same way that roses smelled sweetest just before they died.

She didn't let on to anyone that there might be something wrong. She walked by Kaoru with her hands loosely gripping her friend's elbow. Her smile never wavered and she never fell behind, but occasionally a flash of pain would flit through her hark eyes, bright as a scream.

Kaoru had spent her life reading people's emotions in their ki and body language so she saw every wince and sigh for what they were; the signs of a woman pushed to the brink.

Kenshin was never far from his wife. From the way he watched her (like a hawk) it wasn't hard to guess who had been against this trip from the start and Kaoru found she was in agreement with him. Tomoe shouldn't have been away from home.

"… This is such a lovely part of the country. I'm glad Enishi invited us." Tomoe said softly and tilted her face back slightly to catch the warmth on her face.

She looked like something from beyond this world with the light hitting her pale skin and dark hair, Kaoru thought.

"It is. I'm looking forward to the rest and relaxation." Kaoru agreed. "I hardly expected to see you here," she admitted.

Tomoe smiled at her. "Enishi told us you all would be visiting Izu this week and I insisted that we would be there as well. I wanted to surprise you." she sobered a little. "It seems you've had few pleasant surprises in the time since we last saw one another."

"Ah." Kaoru murmured with a displeased glance in Enishi's direction. "Someone's been telling tales, eh?"

Enishi coughed discreetly and tugged at his collar.

"Don't blame him." Tomoe assured her. "When he wrote me and told me he'd found you, I made him give me all the details." she smirked grimly. "Especially once I told him I'd hike to Tokyo to find out for myself if he didn't."

Kaoru winced. "A convincing threat."

"Tomoe doesn't make threats." Kenshin corrected quietly. "She would have done it and damn the consequences."

"I believe you." Kaoru agreed. She'd become well acquainted with Tomoe's bull-headedness when she'd stayed with her during the Bakumatsu. While Tomoe was velvet on the outside, she was steel on the inside.

"We're almost there, Kaa-chan." Kaori volunteered.

Tomoe noticed the young girl for the first time. "You are Kaori, are you not?" she asked hesitantly.

Kaori nodded brightly. "I'm Kamiya Kaori. Nice to meet you."

Tomoe smiled at the girl and nodded. "I am Himura Tomoe," she glanced at Kaoru. "Your daughter?"

Kaoru smiled awkwardly. She'd been dreading this, how awful it would be for Tomoe to see another woman succeed where she'd failed so many times… "Hai, Kaori is my darling girl."

Tomoe smiled tremulously. "I hope you'll think of me as an aunt, Kaori-chan. Your mother and I were very close some years ago."

"I know you." Kaori told her. "Kaa-chan used to tell me stories about you when we lived at the Monastery. I feel like I've known you my entire life, maybe even as a surrogate mother."

Kaoru glowed with pride as Kaori stepped forward and gave Tomoe a quick hug causing the older woman to force back tears.

"I'm honored, Kaori." Tomoe whispered.

Kaoru blinked as Kenshin caught her eye from behind. His half bow said it all, she nodded back to acknowledge her acceptance of his thanks.

"Aren't you cold, Kao-san?" Megumi piped up from behind her. "I didn't realize it earlier, but everyone else is bundled up and you're in your summer clothes."

"The walk's keeping me warm." Kaoru assured her. "I also have two gis under this."

"But they all leave your neck open." Tomoe observed critically as she eyed the way Kaoru let her gi slope open to reveal the tip of her chest binding. "You'll get sick like that." she beckoned to Kenshin. "Anata, could you give me that blue scarf I made for Kaoru-chan?"

She smiled at Kaoru's startled expression. "I know you, Iyuu. You replace clothes when they are dissolving off your body. I didn't think you'd bother with winter clothes."

(*Iyuu-esteemed friend) 

Kaoru flushed. "I've gotten new clothes…" she whined.

Kenshin produced a lovely length of light blue cloth from one of his sleeves and gave it to Tomoe who wrapped it around Kaoru's neck and draped it artfully over her chest.

"There, I though the color would look good one you. It compliments your eyes." Tomoe said approvingly.

"It does." Megumi agreed and sidled up beside Kaoru to take her arm unexpectedly. "Busy tonight, gorgeous?" she purred.

"Um… sparring with Kaori!" Kaoru stammered. 

"Sorry, Megumi-san. I got dibs." Kaori giggled.

Megumi sighed dramatically and would have answered but they reached the Inn gate then and Hiko was sanding outside it. There was a slip of paper in his huge fists. Kaoru smiled at him in an attempt to sooth his temper.

At the sight of it, Hiko relaxed by measures and unbent enough to nod at both Kenshin and Tomoe.

"The cabin is far," he said gruffly as soon as they were within hearing range. "We had best leave now if we want to reach it before dark."

***

They left Tomoe and Kenshin in the tender hands of the innkeeper and began their trek to the Summer House. Kaoru might have lost her worries for a short time in the bright winter afternoon, but Yahiko chose then to bring up something she'd been dreading for a while…

"I still say the 'Kaoru-gumi' is a better name than the 'Raiden-no-gumi'." he commented suddenly and Misao pounced on him before Kaoru could realize what had left his mouth.

"No way!" she cried. "The Raiden-no-gumi sounds _waaaaay _better!"

Kaori shook her head distastefully. "Much as I hate to agree with Yahiko, I like Kaoru-gumi better. It has a good ring to it."

"Kaori has a point." Enishi said.

"E-excuse me?" Kaoru stammered.

"I fail to see the need for a name at all." Aoshi pointed out and Hiko nodded his agreement.

"Naming a group of comrades reinforces their group identity and commands loyalty." Kaneda said eloquently. "I like 'Kaoru-gumi'."

"_Excuse me_." Kaoru said a little more forcibly. 

"You make us sound like something out of a bad samurai novel." Aoshi said distastefully.

"Our life makes us seem like something out of a bad samurai novel." Hiko said drolly. "Still, there is a modicum of dignity to be maintained. Don't you think Kaoru?"

"Uh…"

"Oh come on! The name's a good idea, don't start going over our heads!" Kaori protested.

Kaoru began to massage the bridge of her nose and walk a little faster. All of a sudden she was really eager to get to the Summer House and sequester herself in the kitchen, only it was not to be.

The Summer House was a small western mansion built onto the edge of a cliff overlooking a lake the stretched out so far that it could have been mistaken for the ocean if it hadn't been for the slender edge of dark green knot work surrounding the edges.

There were enough rooms in the Summer House that every one could have their own room and still have empty rooms to spare.

When the Kaoru-gumi arrived (they'd finally agreed on the name) they found their new home for the next two weeks to be sparkling clean with an English butler awaiting them in the foyer.

***

Kaoru suddenly throws down her luggage and hold up her hands in a time-out T. "Hold the Music!" she yells.

Excuse me?

She glares up at the ceiling. "Going through this whole song and dance is going to be rough enough, I'm not about listen to you refer to us as 'The Kaoru-gumi' for the rest of the series too!"

You don't exactly have a choice, my dear. I am the author. As far as you're concerned, I'm God.

"Oh yeah!?" she pulls out her bokken. "Come down here and say that!"

I can't do that. I am beyond you. The mere sound of my voice would make your heart explode in your chest and your brain immediately cease function.

"What a load of…" she mutters. "It would not!"

It will if I say it does.

"…"

Will you go back to work quietly or do I make you?

"Can't we talk about the Kaoru-gumi thing?" she pleads.

There's not much I can do, it's part and parcel with your role in this story. Look at it this way; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Kaoru sheathes her bokken. "If it kills me I won't have to put up with it anymore." she grouses.

That's the spirit!

***

They clustered in the doorway; most of them stared at the luxurious trappings while the others (namely the Oniwabanshuu) broke off to scout the surrounding woods.

"I am Xavier." the butler introduced himself in the stiff, formal Japanese that foreigners were taught. "Master Yutaro has asked me to look after your needs while you are here. There is a small staff here to see to the laundry, cleaning, and cooking. Your rooms have been prepared for you and supper will be served in an hour. Master Yutaro invites you to visit the Manor on the morrow."

From the members of the Kaoru-gumi present there came a few thanks and words of greeting. Kaoru stepped forward. "Thank you for your kind greeting, Xavier-san." she said with a deep bow. "I am Kamiya Kaoru and this is my daughter, Kaori." she gestured to Kaori who waved.

"Yes, Master Yutaro described you to me in detail." He snapped and a line of maids in frilly western dresses filed out from behind the stairs. "The girls will show each of you to your rooms." he looked directly at Kaoru and Kaori "If you ladies will accompany me, I will show you to your rooms."

Kaoru glance back at her companions, but they had mostly dispersed with their designated maids. She turned back to Xavier and picked her luggage off of the floor. "Lead on, Xavier-san."

Xavier wasted no time and led them straight up the main staircase. Kaori whistled appreciatively as she took in the gorgeous woodwork and paneling that surrounded them when they mounted it.

"This is really something, Kaa-chan.," she mused out loud.

"It is, Musume." Kaoru agreed. She didn't add that this had been the main residence back when she'd been close to the family, they must have built a new house further into their lands since then.

"Master Yutaro has informed me that you were given the Peacock room when you last stayed in this house and I have taken liberty of preparing it and the Emerald Room for you and your daughter." Xavier aid as he led them up the stairs and into the grand hall on the second floor. 

There were six doors on the sides of the hall and a huge set of double doors at the end. The largest door led to the master suite, which was a monster to turn out and clean as well as freezing in the winter. The six doors led to smaller bedrooms, which were named after the various colors in the rainbow: the Carmine room, the Citrine room, the gold room, the Emerald Room, the Peacock room, and the Amethyst room.

The Peacock and Emerald rooms were the rooms closest to the Master's Suite and also were directly across from one another in the hall.

"Where are the hot springs, Xavier-san?" Kaori piped up.

Xavier smiled down at her as he unlocked the doors to their rooms. "The Hot Springs are located about halfway between here and the inn near Master Yutaro's mansion, a mere five minute's walk from here although there is a rickshaw for anyone injured."

Kaoru pursed her lips. "Perhaps you should lend it to the inn, there is a very sick woman there who should not spend overmuch time walking."

"It is done." Xavier promised and pushed open the bedroom doors one after another. "I shall leave you to get settled it. A maid shall come for you once supper is served."

"Arigotou gozaimasu." Kaoru and Kaori bowed simultaneously.

Xavier bowed in return and made good on his promise to leave them.

Kaoru waited until he was gone before dropping a hand onto her daughter's shoulders. "Let's see if this place is as overdone as I remember." she whispered and Kaori nodded eagerly.

It was.

As one entered the Peacock room from the hall, one was first faced with the portrait of the woman who had designed it. She was grossly overweight and garbed in a skintight western gown of indigo that displayed a stomach turning amount of cleavage. She held a fuzzy pink fan in one hand and petted a malnourished terrier that cowered in her lap. The painting stretched from the vaulted ceilings to the deep sapphire carpet.

"Masaka…" Kaori breathed. "It's hideous!"

Kaoru made a face. "I know."

"It would give me nightmares." she shuddered.

The rest of the room was of a similar vein. The walls were painted a deep violet-blue that put Kaori in mind a big pulpy bruise and in no way set off the aquamarine curtains edged in frilly silver lace. The furniture was of delicately carved wood, which had been painted white. There were a few table of this sort that sported huge, almost grotesque statues that threatened to crush the fragile wood beneath them. 

The bed was perhaps the only tasteful thing in the room and it wasn't the one Kaoru remembered being there. It was a lovely medieval antique canopy bed with a navy blue damask coverlet. There were thick curtain that could be drawn closed to shut out the horror of the interior décor.

Kaori jumped onto the bed and exclaimed over its softness. "Wow! This is great!"

Kaoru chuckled and inspected the cunning little nightstand by the bed. It could be adjusted to fit within the curtain so that one might never have to open the curtains unless they were about to leave.

'Looks like Xavier had his say about the rooms décor.' she thought in amusement. To tell the truth, most of the truly ugly things that had been in the room when Yutaro's obaa-san had been in residence were gone. It looked like the butler was gently phasing out the distasteful and replacing it with more _elegant _pieces.

"It was worse when I was here last." Kaoru admitted to Kaori.

"Why did Tsukayama-san put you in here if it was so…" she jerked a shoulder at the room in general.

"Well, at the time it was the only free room 'outfitted for lady' and after that he said the room matched my eyes." Kaoru punctuated the statement with a roll of the aforementioned organs. "I don't think he'd ever actually been in the room otherwise I probably would have ended up in the Emerald room."

"Speaking of…" Kaori grinned.

Kaoru dumped her bags on the bed and they spent the rest of the hour exploring the Emerald room, which was in infinitely better taste than the peacock room.

***

Dinner was a comfortable affair. Kaoru had been mildly afraid that they'd be served in the formal dining hall where the Tsukayamas displayed generations of hunting trophies.

She wasn't sure about her companions but eating under all those glassy staring eyes gave her indigestion.

As it was, teaching Kaori and Yahiko to eat with a fork and knife was stressful enough but that was soon to be allayed with a trip to the hot springs!

Aoshi and the Oniwabanshuu disappeared shortly after supper to finish up their vendetta against Raijuta; they left a note saying they'd catch up with the rest at the Hot Spring.

Kaoru made a mental note to never get between the Ninjas and their vacation.

Although, little did she know the Oniwabanshuu were on a false trail laid by Raijuta's remaining men and that there was more than relaxation waiting for them at the Hot Springs.

******

End Chapter 22

******

Seiyuu- the action's slow in this chapter but we'll make up for it next chapter. Many things become clear then. I'm cutting it off here so I can make a clean break to the action.

*Note* I have discovered something about the word 'Oro' it translates (literally) as a past-natal discharge, but that can't be right. I doubt our Ken-chan goes around say 'after-birth' so I did some more research and discovered the 'Ororo' is something a young man says when flustered. Check it out for your self at the J-E Dictionary http://www.wot-club.org.uk/jdict/


	24. Chapter XXIII The Wheel Comes Round Once...

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Chapter Twenty-Three: And the Wheel Comes 'round Once More

**********

Don't sacrifice yourself for me. I will not be grateful.

-Mason Cooley (b. 1927), U.S. aphorist. City Aphorisms, Eighth Selection, New York (1991).

**********

AU- Um, in case you guys haven't figured it out, I decided to use the 'Yutaro' from the anime rather than the Manga mostly because I couldn't resist the by-play with Yutaro's father's nick name 'Raiden' and the name I stuck Kaoru with 'Raiden no Onna'. 

Besides, I don't want you guys to get too good at predicting what'll come next do I?

Also, this is the Last Chapter of Ronin Kaoru; Tokyo Arc. Next Stop: Epilogue and then Ronin Kaoru; Kyoto Arc.

*Warning* Tomoe fans should have tissues handy. You're not gonna like this chapter.

**********

Raijuta watched the raggle-tag group pass under the cliff from where he watched them. A woman walked ahead of the rest with two children of indeterminate age tagging along in her wake. Among the more formidable-looking members of the group numbered a femme fatale playing with a suspiciously heavy looking fan, a tall Caucasian man in olive drab who looked to be no slouch in the bad-ass department, a huge man in a white cloak who _oozed _competence with the nihonto sheathed at his side, and two other men of similar age (one bearing a bokken and the other a staff) who couldn't seem to let off glaring at one another long enough to walk where they were going, he dismissed them as no threat at all.

So these travelers were friends of the mysterious group of Ninjas who had suddenly taken it upon themselves to reduce his once gloriously budding-kingdom to a few disgruntled ex-samurai.

*Little does her know that's all his 'kingdom' was to begin with.

Well it was time for payback.

Raijuta's hand fell down to the hilt of his katana and caressed the deadly weapon. The men after him were fools to leave their weak out where the wolves could find them; the women and children would go first, followed by the two young men, and then the street fighter and the Swordsman.

Raijuta made a mental evaluation of the two women; the one in the sluttish kimono looked as if she could handle herself in a fight, but the scruffy one in the men's clothing allowed herself to be tugged this way and that by the two brats with her. She carried a bokken, but she didn't carry herself like a kenshi; she probably couldn't stomach the sight of blood and only had the bokken for self-defense.

He sneered, that was the way to do it. He'd work his way up from the weakest to the strongest with the ninjas as the grand finale.

'They'll be headed for the hot springs' he decided as he noted the little wooden tubs they all carried to put their clothes in. 'I'll snatch one or both of the brats then and use them to lure out the dumb bitch in black.'

***

Kaoru shivered as an icy finger trailed down her spine.

Kaori and Yahiko broke off their bickering just in time to notice the uneasy expression that flickered across her face.

"What's the matter, Kaa-chan?" Kaori asked with a gentle tug on her mother's sleeve to attract attention her way.

"Nothing, Musume." Kaoru said reassuringly. "Just felt like someone walked over my grave."

"You sure you're okay?" Yahiko asked.

Kaoru ruffled both of the children's hair and chuckled. "I'm fine! How could I not be with a week's vacation ahead of me?"

Of course she didn't mean it, she'd been a kenshi long enough to sense when someone produced killing-ki and directed it at her. From the corner of her eye she could see Raven perched in the top of a precipice, she was glaring down at someone concealed on a rise below her. Kaoru would have tried to get a better look, but then whoever it was would know she knew where he was. The rise was at such an angle that she could see him if she tried.

Besides, she didn't have to be a genius to guess who in the area might want to kill her.

"Hey Kaa-chan! Look who's on the road ahead!"

Kaori's voice startled Kaoru out of her morbid thoughts and she automatically looked up to see what her daughter was pointing out. A startled smile broke out over her face when she spotted them.

A turn in the road had brought a couple on foot into view; it was Tomoe and Kenshin.

Sanosuke jogged up to Kaoru's side and shot a grin down at Kaoru. "Should I get their attention?"

At her node he took a deep breath and let loose with a bellow that would have deafened lesser beings. As it was, there was a rash of ringing ears present in the assembled company.

"OI! HIMURA-TACHI! WAIT UP!!!"

Up ahead, Tomoe clutched her hands over her ears and Kenshin whipped out his sword, ready to repel an attack. The Kaoru-gumi were somewhat worse shape seeing as they'd been at ground zero.

Hiko sprang up behind Sanosuke and belted him on good upside the head. "What the Hell, Chicken head?!" he shouted. "You nearly burst my eardrums!"

Sanosuke jumped back and rubbed the rising lump on his head. "I was just getting their attention!"

"Well you managed to scare them stupid." Megumi reproved. She tugged on his sleeve. "Bend down to earth and let me see that," she ordered.

Sanosuke meekly obeyed, hoping for sympathy. He yelped when Megumi whapped his skull with her lead-filled fan. "What was that for?!"

"Now you have two lumps to frame the hole in your head." she sniped.

"Maa, maa!" Kaoru interposed herself between Sanosuke and the group in general. "He was just trying to help!"

"Kamiya-tachi!"

Kaoru and co. looked up at Kenshin's call.

"We will wait here for you!"

Kaoru waved to show they'd heard and turned to her companions. "Now let's play nice, ne?" she said sternly to them.

"You're acting as if we're children." Hiko sniffed. "We can behave."

Kaoru snorted. "I wouldn't be treating you as children if you all weren't _acting _as children. Shall we go now?"

The group shuffled into action and soon they caught up with Tomoe and Kenshin, who'd been awaiting them good to their word.

"Ohayo, Iyuu!" Tomoe hugged Kaoru as soon as she was in reach. "I heard you all are staying a Western mansion! What's it like?"

"Overdone." Kaoru said succinctly. "It's typical of foreigner's tastes."

Tomoe made a face. "Crowded and convoluted." she guessed and Kaoru nodded. "I thought so. I've yet to meet a foreigner with decent taste in architecture." she smiled and linked her arm through Kaoru's.

"Our neighbors in Kyoto, the Scots, seem comfortable with their surroundings." Kenshin said to Tomoe.

"They're from New York." Tomoe sighed. "Mrs. Scott once told me that she's so surprised to see the sun everyday and breathe clean air, she hardly knows what to do with herself. I wonder if the big cities in America are as bad as she says?"

"I wouldn't know" Kaoru demurred. "But every foreigner I've ever met always exclaims over how fresh and clean everything is here."

"I've been to New York before." Hiko said suddenly. "It was a cesspit, poor people live like rats there in tenements that don't even keep out the rain. I like Japan just fine, thank you very much."

"I didn't know you'd traveled out of Japan." Kaoru exclaimed.

"I've done a lot of things you don't know about, Ru-chan." he paused to consider. "But not much."

Kaoru made a face at him. "Don't you start that again."

A great laugh was had at her expense although to their benefit, Tomoe and Kenshin abstained… although that could have been because they didn't get the joke.

***

The Hot Springs were a dream come true for Kaoru, she'd become something of an addict in her years at the Iron Mountain monastery and had been missing it something awful at the Dojo. Hot baths were nice, but they weren't the real thing.

"Don't let me catch you boys peeping!" Megumi called over the modesty hedge separating the men and women's baths. 

"There ain't anything worth peeping at over there between you and itachi-chan. 'kept maybe Kaoru but I like my head right where it is, thank you." Sanosuke called back.

Kaoru looked pained as she divested herself of gi, hakama, and under things. "That's a bit extreme," she said lamely. "I wouldn't cut your head off for peeping."

There was a sound of splashing on the other side of the hedge. "Really?!" Sanosuke sounded eager.

"… bruise you up a lot, yes, but I wouldn't _kill _you." she finished.

"…"

Kaoru bundled up her clothes and ran lightly over the grass to ease herself into the spring. Megumi and Tomoe were a few steps behind her. Megumi had her hair up in a towel and sat herself down on a rock behind Kaoru.

"Hold still, Kao-san, and I'll put your hair up for you," she said.

Kaoru nodded and leaned back as Megumi deftly piled her hair on top of her head and wrapped a strip of towel around it before knotting it securely in front.

Tomoe stepped into the water and sat down beside Kaoru. She sighed blissfully. "This is heaven!"

"Amen to that." Kaoru agreed.

"Banzai!" Kaori cried as she jumped into the spring, managing to splash all the older women in the process.

"… It could be somewhere else." Megumi muttered and stopped abruptly as she glanced down at Kaoru's shoulders. "Stand up please, Kao-san."

"Eh?" Kaoru blinked up at Megumi. "What?"

"I want to see something, just stand up if you will?"

Kaoru shrugged and stood up; gasps escaped all women present except for Kaori.

"Oh! What happened to you, Iyuu?" Tomoe cried.

"Huh?" Kaoru looked down at herself and suddenly remembered what she looked like without her clothes on; they were seeing the scars.

"An ungodly amount of injuries, I wager." Megumi deadpanned. "And I only recognize maybe a fraction of them. You must have had a rough ten years' travel."

Kaoru submerged herself once more with a muted _splish_. "Well… yes. I did."

"You should see the whip marks on her back." Kaori supplied helpfully.

Kaoru shot a death glare at her daughter but quailed under the thunderous expression on Megumi's face.

***

"KAO-SAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!!!"

The bellow caught the men completely off guard. Kaneda fell off the moss-covered rock from where he'd been baiting Enishi and into the spring. "What was that!" he gasped as his head broke surface.

Hiko tossed back a saucer of saké and chortled. "I'd say she's aroused the wrath of Megitsune again." he shook his jug. "Damn, dry already?"

"Maybe you should hold off, jiya?" Kaneda suggested from his newly reclaimed spot on the mossy rock. Perhaps he should have kept his opinion to himself because Hiko's dou-ryuu-sen knocked him right back off a moment later.

"Ouch." Sanosuke observed. He blinked as Hiko got to his feet and wrapped a towel around his waist. "Where are ya going?"

"Immediately to get away from you all and eventually to get saké." Hiko replied gruffly. "Kill anyone who acts like an idiot in my absence," he commanded Kenshin who merely cocked a flaming eyebrow at him and ignored the order (as he'd been ignoring pretty much everything all night)

"Hiko, could you keep an eye out for Yahiko?" Enishi called after the swordsman. "He left to put his stuff in a cubby and didn't come back."

Hiko grunted and waved to show he'd heard. 'The brat's probably is peeping on the girls.' He swung the saké jug over his shoulder and made for the bushes surrounding the women's baths.

***

Kaoru leapt lightly into a tree to escape the fuming doctor. Luckily she'd managed to grab one of the courtesy yukatas laid out for them and had her gi on over it for warmth. So she was not running around naked. (Although that would have made for an interesting scene.)

Before Megumi could track her to any particular tree, Kaoru leapt to another tree branch, one that was over the men's baths. She could escape through there and… well… find somewhere to hole up until certain tempers cooled.

Instinct stopped Kaoru before the kunai aimed for the tree trunk hit her flush in the face. She scowled at it and jerked the thin note off of the hilt.

"There has got to be a better way to send a challenge," she muttered as she read it. "'Come out to play or the boy dies'?"

Just then Hiko passed underneath her. Kaoru cast her eyes heavenward, said a prayer of thanks to Providence, and dropped down to the ground beside him. He didn't jump or get startled to his credit, but then again he was practically 'King Smack-down' so Kaoru consoled herself with the fact that he probably already knew she was there.

"I thought it was men who peeped on women, Ru-chan.," he observed drolly. "Or are your revolutionized that aspect of Japanese culture too?"

Kaoru stuck her tongue out at him. "You wish. Have you seen Yahiko?"

Hiko frowned. "I was actually just looking for the brat. Was _he _peeping?"

Kaoru gave him the note.

Hiko read it quickly and snorted. "Let me guess, it was tied to a kunai and thrown at your head?" at Kaoru's nod he sighed. "What an anachronism. Whom have you pissed off now?"

"Dunno for sure. I'll go teach him his place in life, rescue Yahiko, and get back into the baths," she decided.

"Cocky, aren't we?" Hiko observed.

"No." Kaoru shrugged. "More like 'dead-serious' no one gets between Kamiya Kaoru and a long overdue vacation."

"… And what are you going to teach him his place in life _with_?" he pressed casually.

Kaoru scowled as she remembered that she'd left her bokken behind her when she'd fled Hurricane Megitsune. Hiko handed her his own nihonto, the one he'd disguised as a staff.

"Here, try not to get any blood or bodily fluids on, ne?"

Kaoru nodded. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Have fun." Hiko whistled lazily as he reversed his direction and went to the changing house to replenish his saké.

'There's really no question about whether Kaoru will win or not.' He thought to himself. A stray breeze sprang up and tossed his ponytail around his shoulders as he stopped and looked back to where Kaoru was striding off into the forest surrounding the hot springs.

'So then why do I have such a bad feeling about this fight?' he asked himself. Then he smacked himself for doing something so un-cool as a 'foreboding scene'.

(SD Hiko- How dare you do that to me! Some fan-girl you are! You're supposed to leave all the dorky scenes to White-hair or the Idiot Monk!

DD-Sorry, but you were the only one who wouldn't butt in on the fight.)

***

It wasn't hard to find her opponent, Kaoru had only to follow the murderous ki that had started to overwhelm her senses shortly after she left Hiko at the Hot Springs. Of course, as a true paranoid skeptic, Kaoru was a firm believer in the 'Easy in, hard out' principle of fighting.

"Mou, is this what Kenshin sensed from Raijuta when they fought?" she wondered out loud. "No wonder he looked ready to tear the jerk a new one."

The nihonto at her side was an unfamiliar weight, but Kaoru couldn't risk tipping Megumi off to what she was going to do. She winced 'I'm doing the same thing to the others that Kenshin used to do to me. Leaving them out of the action and putting all the burden on myself is a stupid thing to do. Maybe I should…' she shook head. 'No time now!'

She skidded to a halt in a non-descript clearing. Raijuta had Yahiko's prone body sprawled at his feet. He had an unsheathed katana and was leaning against a tree trunk.

"You're alone." he observed.

She nodded curtly and pointed at him with the nihonto. "This is your first and only warning; let Yahiko go and get lost or prepare for a humiliating defeat."

"Arrogant, aren't we?" Raijuta chuckled and Kaoru felt his killing-ki build. "I _hate _arrogance in a woman."

And just like that he was on her, Kaoru easily blocked his initial strikes but then he pulled back and was under her guard like it wasn't there. She back flipped to avoid losing her head and used her crouching position to propel herself under Raijuta's defenses. She scored a blow into his gut that should have knocked the air out of him except that the nihonto struck armor and she had to jump back out of his reach when he reversed his grip on his katana and tried to stab directly down at her. 

'He's good.' Kaoru drew her tongue over dry lips. 'Really good. I may have to go all out on him… but Yahiko's here and he can't get out of the way. I'm stuck protecting him and fighting Raijuta as well. I could do that if he used regular sword techniques, but he's got that 'izuna' thing. It's an air-borne vacuum attack if I remember correctly.'

"Time to die, little-one." Raijuta sneered.

"Not today." Kaoru growled and leveled her bokken at Raijuta. "_Hiraishin_!"

Electric blue ki leapt down the length of her bokken and through the air to slam into Raijuta's chest and knock his back several body lengths. Amazingly though, he kept his feet and chuckled as he rubbed the smoking black spot on his chest.

"Cute trick. I wouldn't have pegged you for a user of ken-ki. Try this on for size…" he raised his katana, ready for the matoi inazuma.

Kaoru got ready to start dodging, except just then…

"Kaaooruu!! Iyuu, where are you?" Tomoe's voice floated through the woods. "Megumi's sorry she yelled, please come back!"

"Shimatta!" Kaoru swore. "Tomoe! GET OUT OF HERE! GO BACK!!!"

Raijuta grinned and it was not a pretty sight. "Let her come, you're all going to die anyway." he grunted in surprise as Kaoru delivered a text book snap kick to the underside of his chin.

"Put a cork in it!" she snarled and then gasped as she realized her mistake too late. Raijuta's fist collided with her check at break-neck force and three her across the clearing where her skull whacked against a stone with a sickening crack!

She must have scream or cried out because Tomoe's calls became frantic. "Iyuu!? Where are you? What's happened?"

Kaoru didn't allow herself the luxury of passing out, but she was seeing double when she made it to her feet and black streamers fluttered across her vision.

Raijuta noted her unsteadiness and grinned. "I can take you out at me leisure now. Tobi Izauma!"

Later Kaoru wasn't entirely sure what inspired her. Perhaps in her semi-comatose state she was more in tune with her subconscious mind, god only knew she was operating on instinct alone by then, but as the tobi inazuma reached her, she suddenly called up her aura and deflected it to one side.

Raijuta stopped grinning.

Kaoru brought the nihonto, which she'd had a death grip on, up to a ready stance. At this point she didn't have to go anywhere, if Raijuta wanted her dead he was going to have to come over and do it.

The one thing that never entered her mind was that victims of concussions had severely limited tunnel vision right after their accident, but they never realize it until later. At the time, Kaoru's entire world was centered around the immediate threat of Itsurugi Raijuta; she didn't notice the slender white figure at the edge of the lade that watched the match with a fist pressed against her mouth to keep herself from screaming.

Tomoe had arrived just in time to see Kaoru's head impact with the boulder and she knew that her friend was doing well to be standing up right now. She was also very much aware of the fact that although Kaoru herself was unaware of it, the sheath had come free from the nihonto that Hiko had lent her.

'I've got to stop this.' was the thought that rattled through her shocked mind. 'Either that man will kill her or she'll kill him and I don't know which would be the worst thing to happen to her!'

And so, as she had done on a cold night thirteen years before, Tomoe ran into a fight to save someone who mattered to her, letting her heart do her thinking when her head should have prevailed.

For her part, Kaoru had totally forgotten that Tomoe was anywhere near. He world contracted around the charging twin figures of Raijuta and forced them into one body with a sword raised above its head ready to part her from her life.

Raijuta loosed a battle cry that, coupled with the ringing in her ears, nearly scared Kaoru unconscious but she answered it with one of her own, born of desperation as she poured the last of her strength into one last strike.

As her sword met flesh, Kaoru first thought was that she'd blanked out for the world had turned white. The scarlet blossomed on that pure white field and the mingled cry of a man and woman in mortal pain.

**********

Seiyuu; Gomen nasai! I'm sorry! I had to kill her off! It was vital to the plot! So now you kind of know how I get K&K together… eventually. And um… yes, Kenshin's gonna be creepy for a while after this. Really, really creepy. So uh, deal with it for the time being I suppose.


	25. Epilogue Aftermath

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Epilogue; Aftermath

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And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.   
But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead."   
-_Matthew 8:21-22_

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AU- That's epigraph is kind of odd coming from me of all people. Me being the filthy pagan that I am, but it's applicable.

*************

Defiled.

She'd defiled herself with the blood of the woman she'd given her life to.

The world stretch out beneath Kaoru's feet; a single step would snuff her filthy little life out and atone for Tomoe's death at her hands. One little step.

'Kenshin always advocated atonement. He'll understand when I meet him in the afterlife.' 

…Kenshin…

'That's right… he lived to atone for his sins.' she shook her head in a vain attempt to clear it. 'What's wrong with me? I can't die now, I still have responsibilities.'

She looked down at the world beneath her and shook her head once more. 'I'm sorry Jin'eh, I have to stay. I'll die soon enough, we'll see if I've lost my resolve then.'

Naturally it was right then when all the head shaking caught up with her and she lost her balance…

The sound of a man snoring woke her up.

Kaoru rolled over to one side and was pleasantly surprised to find that for the first time in days, the world didn't tilt wildly around her. Her smile faded as she remembered where she was.

The source of the snoring, as she expected, was Enishi crashed out on a sofa that had been dragged up beside her bed. The few times she'd woken up since she'd been brought back to Yutaro's manor, he'd been there.

She vaguely remembered him carrying her back from the forest… after he'd found her wandering around aimlessly and dangerously close to a cliff. Over the few days she'd patched what had happened there together from half a dozen stray facts dropped in her presence.

Tomoe had been found sliced cleanly through the chest by the nihonto, like Raijuta. Raijuta had been left to lie where he was, but Tomoe had been dragged to one side and laid out with her limbs straightened and Kaoru's gi laid out over her body. Kaoru remembered doing that as soon as she'd registered the fact that she'd… killed Tomoe.

Kaoru gave a shuddering sigh as tears prickled at her eyes. "It was all for nothing." she whimpered. "I killed her…"

Enishi stirred and Koru hurriedly turned over so he wouldn't see her tears if he woke up. She wouldn't be able to resist being comforted right now, and if she collapsed in Enishi's arms right now then there would be all sorts of consequences later.

Luckily Enishi didn't wake so Kaoru was alone with her memories for a bit longer and there were things she'd been told that didn't match up with what she remembered.

Megumi had mentioned that the nihonto had been laid across Tomoe's chest, but Kaoru clearly remembered throwing it across the clearing with a scream of revulsion directed at herself.

Also, Aoshi had said something to Megumi when they'd both thought her asleep.

When they'd been looking for her after they came after the source of the screams, several sets of footprints had been found; one was hers and led Enishi to find her collapsed at the lip of a cliff, one set had been Raijuta's, another had been Tomoe's, but there had been one last set of foot prints and they had followed hers to the cliff and then onto rocky ground where even the Oniwabanshuu couldn't track them--- and Kenshin hadn't been seen since that night.

'That can't be right, I'm sure…' she pulled the covers up over her head. 'I know I saw him but I can't think when… except for…'

__

Her nails dug into the grainy earth of the cliff edge. She let loose with a scream, but she knew no one could come in time to help.

'I'm going to die here…'

Strong hands caught her by the forearms and dragged her up from the lip of the cliff. She was pulled up against a man's chest and dragged away from the edge.

"You won't die here, Kamiya. You won't die yet." a man's voice whispered harshly in her ear. 

The last thing she saw before blackness claimed her was flaming red hair framing blazing gold eyes.

'That was Kenshin… or at least Battousai.' she reasoned.

… but she felt certain she'd seen him once more after that but she wasn't positive.

She ran a dry tongue over equally dry lips-- water was called for. She slowly sat up in bed and turned to the nightstand to reach for the carafe of water there… only to stop midway.

There was a sheet of clean white paper leaned up against the carafe. There was a kanji written on it in blood.

__

Tendou

Divine Justice

*************

Seiyuu; That's it for Ronin Kaoru; Tokyo Arc. I'll begin on Chapter 1 of Ronin Kaoru; Kyoto Arc straight away!


End file.
